Gardaworld officers hired by the City of Peterborough once again served a trespass notice to the volunteers of Food Not Bombs on Monday evening (April 1). This is the second time in two weeks that the volunteers and community members who comprise the Peterborough chapter of the international mutual aid movement have been served with a trespass notice.

Just like the week before, meals continued to be served.

Since 2005, volunteers from Food Not Bombs gathered, either in the City Hall concourse or in Peterborough’s Confederation Square, to hand out dozens of free meals to members of the community. However, for the last month security officers have repeatedly threatened them due to their contravention of a 2019 by-law.

The notice, which is not addressed to an individual, but rather “the Owners and Operators of a large red tent and food premises” cites the group’s contravention of the Parks and Facilities By-law which notes the requirement for a permit to erect a structure and serve food in city parks.

The trespass notice was served to Food Not Bombs volunteer Myles Conner who happily received the piece of paper.

“I don’t even know if I got served,” Conner, who wore a bright blue shirt which read “It is an honour to serve and be served,” said as the officers walked away.

Despite talks between the City and Food Not Bombs continuing since the group was initially approached by security guards and told they would require a permit after 18 years of operating and nearly five years since the passage of the by-law in question, a solution has yet to be reached

The most recent statements from the City to Arthur indicate that Mayor Jeff Leal has offered to use his office’s discretionary funds to cover the cost of a permit for Food Not Bombs, something which Conner and others are not interested in doing.

“Our position is that the limits that have been imposed by the City of Peterborough in the summer of 2019 go a little bit too far or need clarification,” Conner said, adding that should the group eventually receive a ticket for their actions then the intention would be to challenge it in court with the hopes of getting that particular section of the by-law struck down.

“We'd like to work with the City as well,” Conner continued. “We've tried to maintain really positive relationships with them because they are a multitude of things: they can send officers, they can also be really kind and understanding people.”

“We want to appeal to the kind understanding community building part of City Hall to stand up for human rights.”

Following the arrival of the security and with notice being served, things continued as normal for everyone in attendance. Meals were served and people sat and milled out in the park for well over an hour with no further interruption by security or police.