Peterborough’s City Council met for a final council meeting before their summer holiday for a night generously described as hostile, misinformed, and out of order.

Delegations proved to be both informative and completely unhinged. 

Two climate change deniers took the stand to voice their unprofessional opinion on the science around climate change while adamantly demanding they did, in fact, know what they were talking about.

Community member Maggie Braun spoke on the Community Sector Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory Update. Stating that she was raised to believe climate change presented a threat to the planet. However, she now believes the doomsday climate clock is based on falsified science enacted solely to undermine the rights of citizens. Importantly, she issued a “verbal warning” to council members that going forward with the city’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions needs more consideration in regard to the mobility rights of citizens.

John Dunn, a lawyer from Dunn and Dunn Professional Corporation, spoke after Braun about fabricated climate science. Importantly Dunn stated that he was not in fact a climate scientist, but has “watched literally hundreds of hours on climate presentations.” He seconded Braun in his vocal concern over the actualization of glaciers melting and continued a with nonsensical tirade of conspiracy theories attempting to undermine actual scientific research into climate change.

Lynne Bullard, the Board President of Activity Haven (AH), spoke about the suspiciously worded feasibility study into the plans for Queen Alexandra Community Centre (QACC) that heavily implies the imminent demolition of a heritage-listed building in addition to a thriving seniors activity centre. Having been a controversial topic last council meeting, the reconstruction of the QACC would disrupt the livelihood and social lives of the many senior citizens who use the building daily. 

Bullard voiced concerns over the well-being of older adults, stating that the hub is both “familiar and welcoming” and brings “a strong sense of belonging.” Importantly, she expressed her wishes for a third party to be considered in the planning of the centre—whether it be demolished or renovated—and stated that AH wants to be at the table during those discussions. 

The last of nine delegations was Richard Taylor who spoke on the lack of proper planning council has put forward into the proposed major sport and event centre. Taylor stated that he spoke to council about this same topic back in 2018, and is expressing the same anxieties at the present time. 

Taylor reminded council that not knowing the amount of money already spent on a project that is “likely to go into the next century” raises “significant red flags.” He stated that this entire planning project is a case of “two steps forward and three steps back,” outlining positive changes to the planning process such as rejecting Morrow Park and scrapping the community ice pad, however, Taylor stated that the main issue with this proposal is the parameter of the build. 

He voiced his frustration with council members on their lack of narrowing down lot areas, “To this day, you still do not have the answer. You still don’t know the minimum lot area.” Circling back to his 2018 presentation to council, Taylor said “Some people seem to have amnesia” in regard to parking not being at the forefront of this proposal, and they “[Need] to have some kind of pause and reflection going forward.”

In regard to the lack of partnership with the build, Taylor proposed partnering with Selwyn County for a site that will save cost and improve the chances of securing a partner. Of which, Riel again stated his discontent with the build in its entirety, “Here we go again with the plan that will sit on the shelf,” he said.

Councillors voted on the newly proposed Service Peterborough one-stop-shop service desk, with Councillor Parnell stating she is “very concerned about the cost” and voiced to remove the public washroom aspect of the plan. The proposal, minus the public washroom, was approved 6-5 with Lachica, Bierk, Baldwin, Riel, and Leal voting agaisnt.

Moving on, Councillor Joy Lachica doubled down on her motion to include Peterborough’s Architectural Community Advisory Committee (PACAC) in the consultation before continuing further with the feasibility study into the QACC—of which, demolition is the underlying direction the report suggests, despite it being a feasibility study.

Commissioner Richard Freymond responded to questions about the lack of estimated cost of demolition outlined in the report, and stated that the estimated cost of demolition would be $800,000—though this number is not reflected in the feasibility report. 

She questioned whether demolition is the best route going forward considering the building's heritage connection and value for seniors, and asked what the rush is to fast-track this project before all options are considered. 

“Demolition should be our last resort,” she said.

Councillor Alex Bierk also seconded Lachica, and stated that he knows firsthand how important the building is to the community, and that QACC “is not falling down,” citing Lynne Bullard who shared that the elevator in QACC recently passed safety inspections “with flying colours.”

Lachica therefore proposed a friendly amendment to receive feedback from PACAC before moving this project forward. 

The motion to include PACAC in the conversation around QACC was lost 6-5 with Baldwin, Riel, Haacke, Beamer, Leal, and Duguay voting against. 

The vote to obtain a feasibility study into the demolition of QACC carried 9-2, despite no interest in council members to consult with PACAC beforehand. Lachica and Bierk were the only two voting against. 

The proposed 77-unit development on Braidwood Avenue also received final council approval.

In another heated debate, council members continued talks on the feasibility of a new major sports and entertainment centre. Councillor Riel once again passionately spoke on the reality of funding a project this expansive with a budget that does not reflect the means of operation.

“I can't see spending money for a plan that's only going to have to be looked at again in another four years when developers will pony their money up…I don’t see any money trees growing on the property at City Hall,” he said.

Councillor Kevin Duguay voiced his approval for the build, stating his desire for Peterborough to host the memorial cup in the future. Councillor Baldwin was in agreement, stating “The sooner we’ll get on with it, the better we’ll be.”

Nonetheless, the vote for an updated feasibility study on the demolition of Peterborough Memorial Centre and a new major sports and entertainment centre carried 10-1 with only Riel dissenting. 

The three-hour council meeting ended with a grand finale during a notice of motion moved by Councillor Parnell to construct a southern road between The Parkway and Medical Drive to decrease traffic congestion—which notably was already proposed to council in the past and was dismissed by the previous city council, and was subsequently removed from Peterborough’s Official Plan.

Importantly, this motion when previously brought to council was met with outrage and disagreement with the general public.

Riel began the debate by asking Mayor Jeff Leal to rule this motion out, as he stated it was “completely out of order” and that council needs to focus on current projects such as Braeley Drive, not motions that have previously been dismissed. 

“Here we go again. This is groundhog day, I’m sick and tired of this. Council made a decision—The Parkway is out of it, and here we are trying to circumvent this whole thing…The rest of this nonsense has to stop,” said Riel.

Lachica also stated she believed the motion was out of order and misleading. “There is not a great deal of transparency within the wording of this motion,” she said. “It's a disservice to our community and to the public about what study is being addressed.”

Mayor Jeff Leal spoke with hesitation over the conduct of this motion and asked Chief Administrative Officer, Jasbir Raina, whose idea this was. To which he responded that staff did not recommend it to any councillor, but only provided information to help draft the proposal. 

Councillor Leslie Parnell stated in response to the back-and-forth commotion, “There have been a lot of accusations here, which I think are unfair. I do feel this is in order.”

Perhaps it was because this meeting was the last on the agenda before council’s month-long summer break, or perhaps it was an overall exhaustion over cat-and-mouse politics that led Riel to shout at Parnell.

“This is just cheap politicking. Stop this crap because I am tired of it. I am the transportation chair, when were you going to bring it to me? Tonight? Because I am the transportation chair, NOT YOU!” he said enthusiastically.

To which Parnell called on his personal attacks, and stated that he did in fact already know about her plans to revive this motion.

Leal ultimately ruled that the motion was out of order, stating that his major reasoning was the feasibility of building an entirely new road when existing roads are already “in terrible shape.

Both Parnell and Haacke challenged the chair on this ruling.

The challenge failed in a 6-5 vote with Leal, Beamer, Baldwin, Riel, Bierk and Lachica voting that it was out of order, with Parnell, Duguay, Vassiliadis, Haacke, and Crowley voting that it was in order.