Nominations for the 2026 Peterborough Municipal elections officially opened at 8:30 a.m. on May 1st. Three candidates submitted their paperwork to run for mayor on Friday, followed by another on Monday morning. CFFF spent Friday at Peterborough City Council talking to candidates. Listen to hear mayoral and council hopefuls speak about their platforms, experience, and…
Peterborough residents gathered outside MPP Dave Smith’s office on the afternoon of Saturday, April 25th, to voice their frustrations with Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government. The protest was one of many province-wide demonstrations, occurring on the same day, in response to recent changes to Freedom of Information legislation, and the Premier’s purchase of a…
Peterborough City Council met on Thursday, April 23rd to discuss the City’s draft community planning permit system by-law. As a condition of the City’s agreement with the federal government, this draft must be approved by June 30th to receive funding from the Housing Accelerator Fund. Before the meeting could start, councilors exchanged heated words over…
Peterborough City Council will consider recommendations from the City’s DEI Progress Update at their next meeting on Monday April 20th. The report includes proposed outlines for new DEI and anti-racism training for councilors, and an amendment which would ban the use of racial slurs, including the n-word, under the council Code of Conduct, regardless of…
The Ontario government is investing over $250,000 in eight local initiatives to support older adults in Peterborough-Kawartha. The funding, delivered through the Seniors Community Grant Program, was announced at Activity Haven on July 28. One of the funded projects is Lift for Life, a strength and balance program run in partnership with Trent Health in…
On Thursday, May 9th, more than 200 people gathered outside the Peterborough Public Library to protest proposed staffing cuts. The plan would eliminate three full-time unionized librarian positions, including roles focused on children’s programming and community access. Community members and library staff expressed concern about how the changes could impact programs like Parent-Child Mother Goose,…
On February 11, independent news outlet Peterborough Currents launched a project that tracks the votes of Peterborough city councillors. Will Pearson, co-founder and editor at Peterborough Currents, designed the project. “It all started during the 2022 municipal election,” says Pearson. “I got curious about the voting records of the incumbent councillors in my ward […]…
On February 3rd, Peterborough City Council voted against a motion to open a temporary, emergency, shelter in response to extreme cold. The motion, led by Councillors Keith Riel and Alex Bierk, would allocate $150,000 from the Social Services Reserve to support the creation and operation of an additional shelter during winter months. Riel and Bierk,…
Multiple days of extreme cold weather have prompted Peterborough’s Housing and Homelessness Portfolio co-chairs, Councillors Keith Riel and Alex Bierk, to issue a public statement asking for Mayor Jeff Leal to use Strong Mayor powers to open temporary emergency shelter space. Strong Mayor Powers was legislation introduced by the Ontario government in 2022 to give…
