Friday the 13th was especially unlucky for Runner’s Life owner Dave Dame, after Peterborough city council effectively reversed its earlier decision to grant him a temporary road closure permit for George Street in the downtown core for the St. Patrick’s Day 5k Run and Walk he had organized for this Sunday (March 15).
Only 40 hours before the event was scheduled to begin, council met virtually at 8 p.m. on Friday (March 13) and voted to approve an amended motion that would give city staff the authority to propose alternative routes for the race — something Dame is not interested in pursuing.
The two and a half hour meeting began with a general committee meeting chaired by councillor Matt Crowley, where Mayor Jeff Leal delivered a verbal report outlining new information he had received since councillors had voted 9-1 at Monday’s council meeting to override the city clerk’s decision last Friday (March 6) not to grant a permit for Dame’s event.
Safety concerns raised by city staff and police
The mayor called on city clerk John Kennedy and police chief Stuart Betts to describe the safety concerns with the event.
Kennedy said there were issues identified during the February 3 meeting about the event between Dame and city staff — which included the clerk’s office, parade officials, traffic staff, public works, and the police — that included the event’s proximity to the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the bidirectional nature of run, and the fact that a full road closure would impact businesses.
For his part, Chief Betts raised a litany of concerns, noting he had past experience with these types of events. He said a “hard block” (a complete road closure) would be required for the event, rather than the “rolling block” that will be in place for the St. Patrick’s Day parade — where police close each intersection as participants pass that intersection — and which Dame had requested be used for his event.
The chief also said there wasn’t sufficient advance planning to close down George Street and its 15 intersections for a hard block, there were insufficient resources to barricade off intersections, that the run/walk nature of the event presents challenges because of the varying speeds of participants, that the event’s start time of 30 minutes before the parade left insufficient time for all runners and walkers to complete it, that faster runners would be lapping walkers during the bidirectional run, and that a hard block would require 30 officers (two per intersection).
Chief Betts also said that there were issues with bus route changes, business closures, a lack of consultation with fire and emergency services for appropriate crossing points, and that barricades were not sufficient to prevent people or vehicles from crossing George Street unless police officers are present. He referred to a number of incidents when the walk/run was last organized in 2023, including a near-collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian.
Councillors question why concerns were not shared earlier
A number of councillors raised concerns that none of this information was shared with council on Monday night, despite several requests during the meeting for clarification on safety concerns.
Councillor Dave Haacke asked Kennedy whether any of these concerns were communicated to Dame. Kennedy said some of the issues were discussed during the February 3 meeting. When Haacke noted that Dame has said the opposite when delegating to council on Monday night and asked if this was made clear to Dame at the meeting, Kennedy said Dame was told city staff would require further discussion and investigation of the issues.
“It’s crazy that we’re here tonight,” councillor Alex Bierk said, adding “We should have never been put in this position” before asking Mayor Leal why the information had not been shared with council earlier.
The mayor said he met with the city clerk on Tuesday morning when he received new information, and subsequently met with Chief Betts and the city’s commission of legislative services David Potts on Wednesday. The first available time to convene council meetings was on Friday afternoon, and since those meetings didn’t have a quorum, meetings were scheduled for Friday night.
For her part, councillor Joy Lachica called the lack of communication with Dame between the February 3 meeting and the March 6 decision to deny a permit an “utter miscarriage of communication to the organizer.” She said Dame would not have proceeded to organize his event if he thought the permit might not be issued.
“I think it’s absolutely wrong to stick it to a small business owner like this,” she said. “We need to do better.”
Legislative services commissioner says event organizer not ‘truthful’
Potts said all the concerns that Chief Betts raised were also raised at the February 3 meeting with Dame.
He said Dame’s delegation to council was “Neither accurate nor truthful” and that council’s decision to approve a temporary road closure permit was based on “erroneous information, and I say that generously.” He also said there is a “history” with Dame, without explaining what he meant.
In response to Potts’ comments, councillor Keith Riel said “I don’t like being scolded by staff,” noting there was an opportunity on Monday night for the city clerk to advise council to go into closed session if issues needed to be shared with councillors after Dame’s delegation.
“The information I received that night did not justify not giving a permit,” Riel said.
Councillor Lachica said concerns about the run/walk could have been communicated to council before Monday night, as well as during the meeting itself, and that councillors had asked Kennedy and Potts several times to clarify what the concerns were and didn’t receive a response.
“It puts us in a very difficult position,” she said.
City staff propose alternative routes for the race
Councillor Haacke said his vote on Monday night would have been different had he received information about concerns with the event.
“We didn’t have that information — that is a problem,” he said, before asking city staff if there is a way to “salvage” the event.
City CAO Jasbir Raina said staff have developed some options, and asked recreation and park services director Rob McAulay to explain them. McAulay said staff have been working on two options for alternative routes: a 2.5-kilometre route up and down the Rotary Trail or a one-kilometre loop in Nicholls Oval Park.
After Haacke asked how council could proceed with these options, Kennedy said council could amend its Monday night decision to delegate authority to the city clerk to establish alternate routes.
Councillor Kevin Duguay asked Kennedy if Dame had been instructed at the February 3 meeting to resolve the issues identified at the meeting for the permit to be issued.
Kennedy did not directly answer the question, instead saying that, after a series of communications and meetings, technical staff concluded the event would not be safe. Duguay asked if Dame was advised of issues that needed to be addressed, and Kennedy said Dame was told there were issues that needed to be reviewed.
Councillor Riel said city staff should have given council information about their concerns with the event on Monday night in closed session.
“It’s going to look bad on our community,” he said. “Why the hell would I do anything with the city if this is how I’m treated? Someone dropped the ball and it certainly wasn’t council.”
Raina said he took “full responsibility for the process.” He said that, although he doesn’t get involved in the details, “we could have done better with the process.”
Baldwin, who was the sole vote against granting a temporary permit on Monday night because he was concerned he didn’t have all the information, wondered why no “alarm bells” had been raised about event during the previous 12 years it had taken place.
Debate over whether mayor’s motion is a ‘reconsideration’ of council decision
After Mayor Leal said he intended to move the amendment as described by the city clerk, delegating the authority to establish alternate routes, councillor Lachica asked whether a two-thirds vote would be required as council was reconsidering a decision it had already made.
Kennedy said that a two-third vote is required for reconsideration of a decision, but a majority vote is required for an amendment to a motion.
Councillor Bierk said that the mayor’s motion was a reconsideration and not an amendment, noting “It is completely different,” and councillor Lachica echoed his comment.
Councillors Haacke and Baldwin said they didn’t consider it a reconsideration, and councillor Crowley — as chair of the meeting — agreed, stating that Dame would still have a permit for the event.
Councillor Lachica said the mayor’s motion is for a different route at a different location requiring a different permit, and councillor Bierk noted that when a similar situation happened during the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment debate, an amendment to a decision already made by council was considered to be a reconsideration.
Councillor Crowley then ruled that the motion was not a reconsideration since council was not revoking the permit for the event, even though the permit in the original decision explicitly named George Street and the mayor’s motion effectively reversed that decision.
Councillor Lachica challenged the chair’s ruling, which was upheld by a 8-3 vote, with Lachica and councillors Bierk and Riel voting against.
General committee passes mayor’s motion 8-3
With the mayor’s motion on the floor for debate, councillor Lachica asked whether alternative routes were presented to Dame when issues were raised at the February 3 meeting. Kennedy said Dame’s preference was for a road race and technical staff only looked at the road route.
Councillor Bierk said he appreciated the effort to find an alternative route, but “I can’t support this at 30 hours before the event,” noting that there are 300 participants in the race who are bringing their families, and that a downtown race is different from a race on a trail or in a park.
Chief Betts said that police did provide alternative routes during the February 3 meeting with Dame that would eliminate safety concerns and resource requirements and, in response to a question from Bierk, said these alternative routes were on trails and in parks and not on George Street or downtown.
In response to a question from councillor Crowley about whether a run could be held on George Street in the future, Chief Betts said “anything is possible with resources,” adding that it was the bidirectional nature of the event causing the issue, and resolving that issue would require organizer involvement far in advance.
CAO Raina said city staff are reviewing the permitting process, which is currently 90 days but could be 120 or 180 days.
Councillors then voted on the mayor’s motion, which passed 8-3 with councillors Bierk, Lachica, and Riel voting against.
‘Did you guys just vote to cancel my race?’
After adjourning as general committee and immediately reconvening as city council with Mayor Leal as chair, councillors heard from Dame as a registered delegation.
“Did you guys just vote to cancel my race?” he asked, at which point Kennedy read the mayor’s motion.
Dame said he left the February 3 meeting “thinking everything was fine.”
“No-one who talked tonight was at the meeting,” he said. “No alternative routes were discussed.”
He said he was not aware of the 2023 incident that Chief Betts spoke about and, in response to Potts’ comment about “history,” said “You treat me like this, no wonder. This is going to affect my reputation.”
“I may never do another event in this city ever again,” he said, adding “It’s up to council to give direction to city staff and police, not the other way around.”
He said he was not interested in alternative routes for his event.
In response to a question from councillor Lachica about whether he would have considered an alternative route if he had been aware of the issues raised by city staff, Dame said “I would have considered anything if there had been any notion of a potential problem.”
“I would not have proceeded if there was any issue,” he added, pointing out that no-one from the city had talked to him since the February 3 meeting, and that the first indication he had that there was a problem was when he received the letter from the city clerk on March 6 denying the permit.
Dame said nothing had changed since the event was last held in 2023, except there were “a bunch of new faces in the room” during the February 3 meeting. He said the police representative did not indicate there would be any issue with policing at the event.
“It just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
Police traffic sergeant addresses council
As Dame’s delegation ended, Chief Betts said he was prepared to have traffic sergeant Matt McGill participate in the council meeting as he attended the February 3 meeting with Dame.
McGill told council there were “quite a few back-and-forth discussions” during the meeting, and that concerns were raised about where runners would gather before the event. He said Dame was aware there was no final decision made at the meeting, and that police needed to review the issues.
In response to a question from councillor Crowley about whether police had any further communication with Dame after the February 3 meeting, McGill said he sent an email on February 10 to the city clerk’s office indicating serious concerns about the police’s ability to facilitate the event, including resources required and costs, but had no conversations with Dame.
Councillor Lachica asked McGill whether there were any suggestions for alternate routes were presented to Dame during the February 3 meeting. McGill contradicted the earlier assertion made by Chief Betts and said he didn’t recall discussions about moving the event to a different location, as it was clear Dame wanted to have the event on George Street.
In response to a question from councillor Bierk about whether there was any way to salvage the event on George Street with current resources, McGill said there are too many variables in keeping vehicles off of George Street and controlling the runners, and that there are safety issues without having hard barricades at every intersection or police at every intersection.
Councillor Riel asked McGill about the number of police officers and auxiliary officers required for an event like this. McGill said that, for the St. Patrick’s Day parade, 26 duty officers were requested and 15 were approved, with 11 auxiliary officers available to assist. He said that the Highway Traffic Act does not permit auxiliary officers to be posted at intersections on their own.
When Riel asked McGill how police are managing the parade given those resources, McGill said the parade has been planned in such a way so that the 15 duty officers can keep the auxiliary officers at the intersections within sight, thereby extending the resources.
Riel pointed out the McGill had just said that auxiliary officers can’t be at intersections on their own but declined to continue his question, saying “This evening is frustrating enough.”
Council approves mayor’s motion 6-5
After councillors finished questioning McGill, the mayor’s motion as approved by general committee was read out loud — “That council delegate authority to the city clerk to impose conditions and establish alternate routes in relation to council’s approval of the temporary road closure for the St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run Road Closure.” — and was on the floor for discussion.
“This entire situation just makes us look terrible,” councillor Crowley said about the communication between city staff and Dame regarding the event permit and council’s subsequent decisions. “This whole thing is a massive mess.”
Councillor Riel said Dame will have to cancel his event if council passes the recommendation, noting 300 people are coming for the event and that it’s a fundraiser for charity.
“To me, this is a black eye for the city, it’s a black eye for us as council, and for how the whole thing has been handled,” Riel said.
Councillor Lesley Parnell said “This whole situation is totally regrettable” but added “The bottom line is that it is not safe to run this race,” referring to the potential for a tragedy.
Councillor Don Vassiliadis questioned why council was voting on the recommendation when the event organizer said he is not interested in alternate routes, adding that communication was missing and that he heard information contradicting other information.
“I think we have to do a lot better than this,” he said.
Councillor Baldwin said the city would be at risk if council allowed the original motion to stand instead of supporting the amendment, while councillor Bierk said “Voting for this amendment is to vote against the race, and all the repercussions from that.”
Council then voted 6-5 in favour of the mayor’s motion, with councillors Vassiliadis, Crowley, Lachica, Bierk, and Riel voting against it.
The original version of this story has been updated with minor changes to improve clarity and with councillor Riel’s questioning of traffic sergeant Matt McGill.
