The planned in-house economic development department at the City of Peterborough will be an “evolving process of excellence” according to Chief Administrative Officer, Jasbir Raina. It would not be the last time that Councillors would consider the local economic climate during the General Committee meeting on June 17th. 

The four-hour meeting also saw Councillors consider a staff report outlining the plans for bringing economic development projects in-house, as well as a motion from Councillor Joy Lachica to call on upper levels of government to salvage the 29 programs at Fleming College slashed earlier this year in response to a Federal cap in international student enrolment.  

The economic development report outlines the creation of a new division within the City which will be called Economic Development Services. Meanwhile, services related to tourism would be handled by existing structures in the CIty’s Strategic Communications, Recreation, and Arts and Culture Divisions.

The plan for internal economic development services would provide “the two main services of Economic Development and Tourism, each in a separate but coordinated manner” and replaces the services of Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED). Earlier this month PKED announced that they would be dissolving at the end of 2024 in light of Peterborough City and County’s decision to not renew funding.

PKED has been fulfilling the service of economic development for the region since 1998 through a tri-party agreement between the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, and the PKED Board. Without the core funding of Peterborough City and Peterborough County, PKED “will neither have the capacity nor resources to deliver economic and tourism services on behalf of the region,” according to a June 3rd press release.

The plan, as approved at General Committee, outlines a staffing plan which includes one Director for the new Economic Development Division and an estimated three full-time positions reporting to them. Meanwhile, the report anticipates the hiring of two Communications Specialists “to undertake the tourism and destination marketing currently performed by PKED staff. 

Speaking to the report on Monday evening, Mayor Jeff Leal outlined Peterborough’s stagnating GDP growth rate when compared to other Ontario municipalities and the lack of commercial tax base within the City—which currently sits at 80% residential and 20% industrial/commercial. 

“The first thing I think we need to do, whoever we hire, as a new economic development director is to set a 10 percent target to raise our industrial commercial assessor base by 10 percent —from 20 percent to 30 percent—that represents two full percentage points in our tax rate, to generate revenue that we need for the things that we do each and every day,” Leal said.

Leal also highlighted the need for greater collaboration between the City, Trent University, and Fleming College, stating that they need to be “closer to our broad-based economic message.” 

Leal also bemoaned the fact Peterborough’s newly opened Canoe Museum didn’t make the front cover of the most recent edition of the Canadian Automobile Association’s magazine, proclaiming that he was “absolutely shocked” when the magazine arrived at his home last month with no mention of the museum.

“You would have thought that somebody would have had the initiative to have a story front and centre about the Canadian Canoe Museum,” Leal said as he waved a copy of the Summer 2024 edition of the publication for everyone to see. “Isn't that one of the great destinations that we want here in Ontario…I'm not a marketing guy, but it seems to be that that would be a pretty elementary thing.”

“You can’t do business sitting on your ass,” Leal added by way of conclusion, citing a colourful anecdote about John Diefenbaker’s Minister of Commerce and Trade, George Hees, and an oversized business card he distributed after brokering a deal to sell Canadian wheat to China.

Councillor Keith Riel spoke to his 14 years on council and his experience as being something of a “black sheep” for his habit of asking “embarassing” questions when it came to economic development in a City with an eroding tax base.

“This council has taken a giant step forward in the economic development and bringing jobs to the city of here,” he said. “Finally we're going to see the impetus for moving the city forward. It's a little heartbreaking for some people, but it was necessary to do it.”

Northcrest Councillor Dave Haacke agreed, noting that “you can't build a city without a tax base” but that perhaps more pertinently, in order to build a tax base—you need land. 

“We're missing the land,” Haacke said, adding that beyond the question of land itself, the location needs to be right as well. 

Haacke invoked the spectre of Cleantech Commons, with its 85 acres of possibility, as an example of a piece of land that the City has been working with Trent University on to invite economic growth and investment, but, he said “it’s the location” that’s getting in the way of viable investment.

“I can be shown that maybe it's better having an in house, but I'll bet you we’re sitting here a year from now without land experiencing the exact same thing,” Haacke added, “we can shuffle the chairs but in the end, does it change anything? That's what I'm not sure of. I don't think that it will.”

The recommendation was approved unanimously by a 10-0 vote (Councillor Lesley Parnell was not present on June 17th) following Councillor Alex Bierk’s appeal to bring downtown businesses into the picture in a way that prioritizes their needs and concerns. 

“We need to start to listen to their needs and respond to them,” Bierk said of downtown businesses. “I think when we do that, it will have a positive impact on our GDP and on, you know, our retention and filling up those storefronts.”

Bierk said that he would work alongside fellow Town Ward Councillor Joy Lachica to make this happen and “help the City to organize the voice of the small business.”

Lachica would later add her enthusiasm for tackling these issues alongside the new internation City division. 

“We need to meet with our small business owners and our restaurant owners and those folks who are the pulse of everything that moves in the center of our city,” Lachica said. “I look forward to this and we do need to focus on economic development. It's sort of the theme of what we're looking at tonight.”

Council Calls on Province and Feds to Consider Economic Implications of Post-Secondary Policies:

To her own point, Lachica would later introduce a motion which calls upon the provincial and federal governments “to increase support to college boards, by establishing metrics and direction around maintaining courses where cohorts offer a return on investment in the local economy.” 

The motion comes in response to the slashing of 29 programs at Fleming College and follows a similar move by Kawartha Lakes City Council which passed a motion last month to urge support from upper levels of government.

In speaking to her motion, Lachica outlined her belief that the City needs to call on the provincial and federal governments “to consider the long term and economic impact in their policymaking” and specifically “the impact on our local labor markets, the impact on our local businesses, the impact on local jobs, and the youths from right here that might fill them.”

Councillors Matt Crowley, Gary Baldwin and Mayor Leal stated that they were unable to support the motion as they did not feel that it was the City’s jurisdiction. 

“I don’t think this is our fight,” said Crowley.

Leal contextualized the reasons behind Fleming’s decision to cut these courses as coming from policy decisions made by the federal government when Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller placed a cap on International Student enrolment in Canada in January, and the Ontario government’s unwillingness to listen to a Blue Ribbon Panel recommendation to increase domestic student tuition. 

“For good or for bad, colleges and universities in Ontario have developed a business model based on international students paying a premium tuition rate,” Leal said. 

Conveniently, the same Blue Ribbon Panel report suggests that this business model is, indeed, bad—perhaps nearly as bad as the 29 lost courses and $40M budgetary pitfall at Fleming may indicate.

Riel took the opportunity to remind his fellow Councillors that they had just unanimously agreed to support a new economic development approach after recognizing the flatlining of the City’s economic growth when compared to other municipalities in the province.

“I think that we're doing our job like saying, ‘hey, look, this is going to have a huge impact’,” Riel said. “These cuts affect both Trent University and Sir Sandford Fleming. These are kids that are coming here—our young people are coming here looking for careers that maybe want to stay in Peterborough…But when they don't have the courses, or they don't have the opportunity, they're not going to come to Peterborough.”

The motion was supported 6-4 with Mayor Leal and Councillors Baldwin, Duguay and Crowley voting against. 

Among those who voted in favour was General Committee Chair, Andrew Beamer, who told Arthur after the meeting that he did so due to his belief in supporting motions that are based on creating and maintaining economic activity in the City.

“I think it's important to advocate for jobs in our community and economic development,” Beamer said, noting that due to his role as Chair he often doesn’t speak during debate.

All decisions made during the June 17th General Committee will be ratified at an upcoming City Council meeting on June 24th.