‍This article contains graphic references to sexual assault in both text and images. This is to accurately reproduce language the Save Bonnerworth protestors used to protest against the reopening of Bonnerworth Park on November 8th, 2025.

A controversial chapter of Peterborough’s recent history—one resulting in threats against City councillors, a citizen group’s failed injunction, and an Integrity Commissioner’s investigation—has finally reached its conclusion as the redeveloped Bonnerworth Park opened to the public on Saturday, November 8th, a week after most city parks close for the winter.

After a year of construction, the reopening of Bonnerworth celebrated its new, much-needed amenities: an expansion of its skatepark, the addition of a bike pump track and 14 new pickleball courts. The $4.4-million redevelopment was initially approved in October 2023, but since then, it’s been the subject of a dramatic saga starring residents, stakeholders, and the City of Peterborough. 

The new pickleball courts have been the subject of much controversy over the last two years, as neighbouring residents opposed the Bonnerworth redevelopment due to concerns around noise disturbance from the pickleball courts and additional parking. 

In October of 2023, Peterborough City Council received a parks and recreation report detailing the first phase of the Bonnerworth redevelopment, outlining the need for revamped outdoor recreation identified in an 2019 assessment of the City’s parks and greenspaces. The next council meeting would spiral into a debate lasting over five hours litigating the concentration of pickleballs courts and the potential noise issues they could cause.

The Great Pickleball Debate only later heated up after an intense general committee meeting in April 2nd, 2024, where Mayor Jeff Leal made threatening remarks toward Town Ward Councillor Alex Bierk during another heated debate about a notice of motion from Councillor Joy Lachica regarding the Bonnerworth Park redevelopment.

Coun. Bierk voiced support for Lachica’s motion by stating he was not against pickleball but in fact keen to learn from Leal’s spouse, Karan Leal, a prominent member of the Peterborough Pickleball Association (PPA), a stakeholder group in the redevelopment of Bonnerworth.

Arthur then heard Leal threaten Bierk, saying that Bierk “took it too far.” While the altercation was not picked up by Council microphones, it was confirmed by multiple councillors in an investigation conducted by the City’s Integrity Commissioner. 

“You’re going to regret you ever said that,” Leal told Bierk during the meeting. “I’ll carve you like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

Leal’s conduct during this meeting would be the subject of a May 2025 Integrity Commissioner’s report, in light of which council declined to penalize Mayor Leal for two violations of the Council Code of Conduct. 

These events preceded the “Save Bonnerworth Park” movement, and would see a number of actions organized by concerned residents proximal to Bonnerworth Park, namely through a petition signed by over 8,100 community members and a fundraiser to file an injunction against the City of Peterborough. 

This injunction would later fail after Friends of Bonnerworth Park, the non-profit incorporation created to hold over $43,000 in donations, reported that their presiding law firm had to withdraw due to illness, and that the City’s outside counsel had informed the group’s departing counsel that a “clerical error” had allegedly indicated a much sooner court date (November 25, 2024) than what would’ve actually been scheduled, as most civil matters of this nature would be seen in the spring of the following year. 

In the absence of an immediate court date, city contractors continued with the Bonnerworth redevelopment unimpeded.

Flash forward to nearly a year later, the redeveloped park opened to much fanfare, with dozens of residents and stakeholders gathering to celebrate what may be the crowning achievement of the current iteration of Peterborough’s city council.

For Mayor Leal, the expansion of Peterborough’s parks and recreational facilities was one of his many campaign promises back in 2022. Now just a year shy of a municipal election, the Bonnerworth redevelopment stands as a pledge fulfilled by Leal’s mayoralship, albeit one mired in controversy and public hostility. 

“Bonnerworth Park will be a place for residents and visitors of all ages and abilities,” Leal said at the November 8th ceremony. “It will provide exceptional recreation facilities for all our residents, [and] combined with the planned revitalization of Knights of Columbus Park and Morrow Park, this will be one of the most extensive recreational infrastructure redevelopment additions of decades, and I'm very proud.”

“It's been a long and challenging journey, but we made it, and I'm so excited to see the positive impact that this park will have on our community.”

Leal then personally thanked the members of city council who voted in favour of the park’s redevelopment, all present save for the dissenting councillors Alex Bierk, Joy Lachica, and Keith Riel, and also thanked the City staff that made the project a reality “despite enduring personal attacks, misinformation, and disinformation.” 

“You stood strong and tall against a lot of toxicity to make this community a better place to live, work and play,” Leal said. 

Despite adulation from attendees, Mayor Leal’s keynote address was occasionally heckled by protesters organized by what remains of the Save Bonnerworth Park movement. There were multiple points in Leal’s keynote where the mayor had to shout over cries of “Go slice a turkey!” and “Get the homeless off the street, Jeffy! ‘Cause they’re going to come here!” 

Protestors also had signs showcasing slogans like “King Leal Raped Lady Bonnerworth” and “Leal’s Black Hole,” and attempted to show said signage in photo ops taken with stakeholders after the ceremony. 

Protestors were then asked to stop by municipal by-law enforcement officers present, as they were “causing a disturbance.” This then led to a short confrontation where protestors claimed their speech was being repressed and that said by-law officers had touched one of the protestors. By-law officers looked confused throughout. 

One protester then came up to members of the media and said “Don’t you guys live for this shit?” to which most media (including Arthur) replied “no.” The confrontation quickly diffused. 

Friends of Bonnerworth Park president John Gerelus told journalists that despite its failure to legally prevent the redevelopment, the incorporation still seeks to hold the City accountable as a stakeholder group.

“The chances of us ever going to court as a non-profit [are] non-existent,” Gerelus admitted.

When asked about plans for the non-profit’s future, Gerelus took stock of the situation, especially considering the current state of a pending injunction request against the Brock Mission’s expansion project filed by another neighbour group, Northcrest Neighbours for Fair Process Ltd. (NNFP). The neighbourhood group filed an injunction to prevent the Chemong St. expansion due to Mayor Leal’s use of strong-mayor powers to expedite its development.

If the injunction request is granted, NNFP and its sole director Sarah McNeilly could be liable for up to $20 million in damages due to the potential clawing back of federal funding for the expansion. The City’s legal counsel stated in a motion for security costs that NNFP is a “shell corporation without operations” and was “incorporated for the purpose of insulating Sarah McNeilly from being exposed to a cost award in her personal capacity.” 

“I sat in [on that court case] and it became obvious that we were up against it. And the $40,000 or $35,000 that was in the bank? That wasn't going to cut it anyway,” Gerelus told reporters. “So any kind of nuisance case going forward has to be launched by an individual, not by an organization, so we will help in any way we can in that regard, but not monetarily per se.” 

When asked about what the non-profit seeks to do with its donation funds for its injunction application, Gerelus explained that some of the funds went to hosting a website, and that Friends of Bonnerworth Park still need to meet again to decide their future.

“That money is still there because we may still need to bring in a noise expert. Maybe we’ll purchase more noise monitoring equipment,” Gerelus said. 

The noise levels, however, were rather contained to Bonnerworth Park. Sound measurements taken on-site with an online sound meter show that the majority of sound pollution from the park was only within (60-83 dB) and proximal to (60 dB) the pickleball courts. 

Prolonged exposure to sounds greater than 85 dB can contribute to hearing loss, yet most measurements taken at Bonnerworth Park on November 8th did not exceed 65 dB, which is the average volume for human speech according to the decibel scale. 

Sound measurements taken near the residential area on Bonnaccord St. and the Hunter Terrace apartment complex ranged from 38-49 dB, the sonic equivalent of whispering. 

Other stakeholder groups, however, were pleased with the recreational additions to Bonnerworth. Shelley Moloney, President of the PPA, thanked the City of Peterborough for recognizing the rapid increase in the popularity of pickleball and the growing need for more courts.

“No other community in Ontario has 14 dedicated pickleball courts in one location. What an accomplishment,” Moloney said. “We feel so fortunate to be blessed with this amazing 14-court facility. These courts have continued to put Peterborough on the map."

The PPA has fundraised over $115,000 for the development of its courts, especially the additional fencing between courts, which were not included in the addition’s site plan. 

Dan Post of the Peterborough Skate Coalition further spoke to how the City and its parks and recreation staff engaged with them collaboratively on the park’s skatepark addition, a feature both himself and coalition co-founder Geoff Rix advocated for quite heavily. 

“There's been a lot of noise over the years claiming unfairness and impropriety, but for us, this collaboration with our elected officials and city staff went exactly as it should. We used our voice, we put in the work, and together we delivered on a promise,” Post told attendees of the November 8th ceremony. 

“What else can you say about this strange but ultimately satisfying chapter in Peterborough? Other than ‘it is abundantly clear that skateboarding is universally loved in this community and will only continue to grow.’” 

With files from Evan Robins.