Peterborough City Councillors have rejected City Staff’s suggestion of scrapping the City’s Canada Day Parade in favour of re-investing the $20,000 cost into other festivities on the holiday. 

An amendment to the staff report by Councillor Matt Crowley asked that the parade be maintained for 2024, after which time Council may decide to re-think the parade in 2025 and beyond. 

“I think that moving forward, if it is a very well attended event, and it's something that the community wants—and the community communicated to us that they really want it—I think that if the community wants to participate, and bring out floats this year, and really make it a great celebration, I think that it would be it would be beneficial to all of us,” Crowley said as he introduced the amendment, which was adopted unanimously.

While recognizing that “there are different opinions about July 1st,” Councillor Joy Lachica spoke in support of the parade carrying on for 2024. 

“Whether you are a new Canadian who has just received your citizenship, whether you've been naturalized like me, we are all Canadians and clearly it's really important, an important tradition for people and for people experiencing it for the first time. And it's been really meaningful,” she said.

Mayor Jeff Leal told Councillors that he had spoken to constituents at both of Peterborough’s farmer’s market and related the fact that “9 out of 10” of those he spoke to wanted the Canada Day parade to continue as they see it as “an iconic event here in the City.”

While ultimately speaking in support of the amended motion, Councillor Alex Bierk asked Staff to elaborate on the extent to which they sought community input on this report. 

“I don't think that it should be left up to anecdotes around the table that we've had between Thursday and Monday about what the community thinks,” he said.  “I think that for a decision like this, that is going to stop something, I would appreciate…knowing how the community felt.”

Similarly, Councillor Keith Riel spoke to the importance of having Councillors be consulted on reports such as the one suggesting the parade’s cancellation. 

“Who on Council was consulted?” Riel asked, before noting his support for the parade continuing for this year. 

“I think it would be a real travesty for us not to have [the parade],” Riel said adding his agreement with Lachica’s comments about what Canada Day festivities mean for new Canadians. 

“Let’s show our pride! Let’s show our pride!” he concluded.

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J.J. Turner Building Heritage Designation:

Also on the agenda was the designation of the J.J. Turner Building at 140 King Street as a heritage building under the Ontario Heritage Act. 

The J.J. Turner building was designed by the noted Peterborough architect and engineer John Belcher, who is known for his contributions to Peterborough’s architectural and civic identity which included Market Hall (1889), Peterborough Collegiate Institute (1907-08), and the Queen Alexandria Community Centre on Barnardo Street (1890).

The building was built in 1902 following London-born tent, awning, and sail manufacturer John James Turner’s move to Peterborough. Later, two additional storeys were added to the original three floors between 1911 and 1912 according to the brief provided to Council. 

According to the staff report, Turner moved his manufacturing operations to Peterborough due to the City’s “advantageous position along the Canadian Pacific Rail line that linked it directly with Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.”

The building’s owner, Clarendale Holdings Ltd., requested the heritage designation themselves. Heritage Designation places limits on the extent and type of alterations and limits “unwarranted demolition.” 

The report from Staff also outlines the building’s significance as a landmark within the City which connects the residents to the City’s industrial past.

“The property maintains and supports the character of an early industrial area downtown near a rail line, the Otonabee River and Jackson Creek,” the report states. “The property is the only remaining manufacturing building on the block, where there were once several including the Peterborough Canoe Company.”

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More Housing Units Planned for the West End:

The meeting also saw two new housing projects in the City’s West End get the green light with applications for re-zoning for properties on Clonsilla Avenue and Sherbrooke Street be adopted by Councillors.

This decision will be ratified at the next Council meeting on April 29th. 

The properties constitute a key proponent of this Council’s plan to add to its existing housing supply and the need to combat an increasingly narrow vacancy rate and keep up with the pledge to the province to create 4,700 new dwellings by 2031 which the City agreed to in November of last year.

However, Councillors learned that there was no guarantee that these developments would be deemed affordable. This despite one of the applicants—Moloney Property Development Inc.—being one of the main providers of affordable homes in Peterborough with a total of four properties operating under that guideline.

Councillor Keith Riel pointed out that Council has a responsibility to ensure that all new housing developments coming to them for approval should be looked at through the lens of the official plan. 

“If we don’t start by making some of these developments affordable tonight then when are we going to start,” Riel said. “There are people out there who cannot pay the market rents being charged.”

The future development on Sherbrooke Street would see 93 units (71 two bedrooms and 22 one bedroom apartments) built and which includes property currently owned by the Westdale United Church at 1509 Sherbrooke Street could run into delays due to the planned construction along that road.

“This is an unsafe stretch of road and it’s too bad that we can’t see this road re-done before the development happens,” Councillor Crowley said.

The report was adopted by a vote of 8-2 with Monaghan Ward Councillors Crowley and Don Vassiliadis voting against. Councillor Kevin Duguay abstained on a pecuniary interest as a family member owns a firm involved in the development.