The March 9th meeting of Peterborough City Council saw council directly approve a temporary road closure permit for a St. Patrick’s Day 5K run and walk event, overriding the City Clerk’s denial of the permit due to safety concerns. 

The St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run & Walk is to take place prior to Peterborough’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 15th, 2026, spanning the entirety of George St. from Lansdowne St. to McDonnel St. According to the event’s website, runners would start on Roger Neilson Way beside the Morrow Building and make their way down George St. to McDonnel St., circling back to where George St. intersects with Lansdowne St. 

As the meeting began, Town Ward Councillor Alex Bierk immediately moved for the suspension of meeting rules to allow a member of the public to speak to council after Runner’s Life owner Dave Dame emailed him 45 minutes prior to that evening’s meeting, citing the time-sensitive nature of the issue.

Following a unanimous approval from council, Dame then delegated to council, voicing his objection to City Clerk John Kennedy’s decision to deny his event’s permit over a week prior to the March 15th event. According to Dame, Kennedy’s reasons for denying the permit were as follows:

• The event would need a full road closure rather than a rolling road closure;
• The lead police cruiser on site did not have sufficient room to safely perform a U turn on George St.;
• The use of the parking lot at 512 George St S. (the lot of the Original Spaghetti House restaurant) is unsafe for runners to gather prior to the race;
• Races of this nature should take place on trails or inside parks to ensure the safety of participants.

Despite a February 3rd meeting between the Peterborough Police Service, St. Patrick’s Day Parade officials, and City staff including the Clerk’s office, Dame claims that there were no problems flagged with the event and the run was organized as usual.

“I’ve invested thousands of dollars of my own money, hundreds of hours of my own time and my staff's time in order to properly put on and prepare this event, as I do, only until the last minute [it] wouldn't be permitted,” Dame told council. “I wasn't consulted. I wasn't given a phone call. I wasn't having a meeting to address any of the concerns. Just cancel.”

“There's urgency created by cancelling this last minute. The urgency wasn't created by me. I did everything I was supposed to do in a timely manner. No problems were levied at that time, and now I'm being threatened with the cancelling of my event one week away from the event. You can imagine how awful this would be for my finances, my reputation, not to mention just to have a city that has these kinds of events.” 

Dame then expressed concern with the “precedent” this action would set for other events of this nature and those "attempting to do business with the City of Peterborough."

“I know I'm asking you to overturn and go against your city staff[‘s word] but I think after hearing my safety concerns, you'll agree that they're not really safety concerns,” Dame concluded. 

Mayor Jeff Leal then reassured Dame that he was meeting to discuss this matter the next day.

When asked about his concerns, City Clerk John Kennedy defended his decision. 

“Following the meeting referenced by the delegation, technical staff did do a deeper review of that matter, and they had cited the safety conditions that were addressed here,” Kennedy said. “So for matters of safety, the recommendation was to not approve the event.”

After the usual business for that evening’s meeting, council returned to the matter of the run’s permit, with Ashburnham Ward Councillor Gary Baldwin voicing concern about the lack of details regarding the cited safety concerns and wasn’t convinced about “usurping” the delegated authority of the City’s Clerk. 

“I don't think anybody around the table doesn't want to support the initiative, but I can't help but wonder what the safety issue was,” Baldwin cautioned. “Ordinarily, this is an event that’s occurred, according to the delegate, for the last 12 years. So either the legislation's changed, or the risk factors have changed, and I don't want to use the word ‘irresponsible,’ but there must have been a reason why this was flagged by the Clerk's Office in consultation with the subject experts.

“Right now, the delegate’s delegation to council [says] the impediment has been removed satisfactorily to the clerk. If it was, we wouldn't be having this decision right now. So respectfully, I'd like to see the event go on, but I'm uncomfortable approving something because there are some things that we're not privy to right now,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin’s concerns went unheard, however, as councillors like Town Ward’s Alex Bierk were unconvinced that the safety concerns were outstanding.

“I don't think there was an opportunity for [Dame] to have a back-and-forth with the clerk,” Bierk said. “I think he just received the notice from the clerk that the permit was not given to them, and that's why he's scrambling. We're all scrambling. And I think those on council have the idea to just give them the permit. I think that's the cleanest way to do it.” 

Council then authorized the temporary road closure 9-1, with Councillor Baldwin opposing the authorization.