Last updated: October 21, 2022
There are 30 people running for Peterborough city council in the upcoming municipal election. To help you make an informed decision, the Peterborough Currents team has rounded up information about who the candidates are and what are their priorities.
Navigate through this tracker by using the links below.
We’ll be updating this page up until the October 24 election when new material becomes available. Is there something we’ve missed? Let us know. Email [email protected]
Mayor
Henry Clarke
After 25 years on city council, Monaghan Ward councillor Henry Clarke is making a run for the mayor’s seat. Clarke entered the race because Peterborough needs “a new and higher standard of committed and determined leadership,” according to his campaign website. Clarke told Peterborough This Week that if elected mayor, his top priority would be tackling climate change. He has outlined his priorities in a series of “policy papers” on his website, focused on climate change and the environment, the downtown, affordable housing, arts, hate crimes and the opioid crisis.
Victor Kreuz
Victor Kreuz is a former teacher who now relies on Ontario Works, according to Peterborough This Week. He told PTBOToday.ca that it would be “inspiring” if an Ontario Works recipient became mayor, though he is “not counting on winning.” Instead, his main goal is “getting his ideas out there,” he said. One of those ideas is trying to hold General Electric accountable to clean up any contamination at its former plant on Park Street. Another key focus of his campaign is getting more affordable housing built.
- Victor Kreuz campaign promises
- No website
Jeff Leal
Long-time Peterborough politician and former Ontario agriculture minister Jeff Leal is re-entering municipal politics with a run for the mayor’s seat. Leal was a Peterborough city councillor from 1985 until 2003, when he successfully ran for MPP. He then represented Peterborough at Queen’s Park for the Liberals until 2018, when he was defeated by Progressive Conservative Dave Smith. He was the Liberals’ agriculture minister from 2013 to 2018. The key campaign planks listed on Leal’s website are: “fostering Peterborough as the place to live, work and play,” “effective government,” addressing the affordable housing crisis and “investing in community infrastructure.”
Brian Lumsden
Brian Lumsden is a former Bay Street stock broker, who later worked in real estate in France and Toronto before moving to Peterborough, according to the Facebook page “Brianfor Mayorptbo.” Lumsden decided to run for mayor after he promised a woman living in a bus shelter on George Street that he would help her find an apartment, according to his Facebook page. His page says he is “running on a platform based on integrity, truth and transparency.”
Stephen Wright
After four years on city council, Northcrest Ward Councillor Stephen Wright is taking a run at becoming Peterborough’s next mayor. In his campaign launch speech last spring, Wright spoke of the sacrifices his mother made in coming to Canada from Jamaica as a live-in domestic worker and how there were few opportunities for him as a young Black man in Canada. He said as mayor he would work to help people struggling today, whether it be because they can’t find work, can’t afford to buy a home or because they have been impacted by the opioid epidemic.
Otonabee Ward
Kevin Duguay
Kevin Duguay is a development and land-use planning consultant. He was a planner for the City of Peterborough from 1989 to 2005, after which time he opened a planning and consulting business that focuses on accessible design and strategic planning. Duguay’s campaign website states that his four priorities if elected are: effective representation for residents and businesses, good governance through collaboration, addressing housing supply, and improving safety downtown.
Lesley Parnell
Having served 12 years on city council, Lesley Parnell is seeking re-election in Otonabee Ward. She has served on many city advisory committees during this tenure; most recently she was chair of the Arenas, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. According to her campaign website, Parnell aims to bring her positive attitude alongside her business education and government work experience to city hall. Her priorities, should she be re-elected, are to bring a balanced approach to council and “be an ambassador for Peterborough.”
Nathan Russell-Meharry
Nathan Russell-Meharry owns and operates a small automotive repair business, according to the Peterborough Examiner. He’s a newcomer to politics, and writes on his campaign website that he is frustrated by a lack of transparency from politicians at all levels. Russell-Meharry’s campaign platform highlights the need for action on the opioid crisis, city-owned solutions to housing and homelessness, road repairs, action on climate change, and the need to annex land from neighbouring townships.
Eleanor Underwood
Eleanor Underwood is a small business owner and piano teacher. Underwood’s top priority for her campaign is bringing fiscal responsibility to city hall. Better finance management will free up money for transportation, food banks, affordable housing and substance abuse programs, she told the Peterborough Examiner. Her other campaign priorities include addressing crime, mental health and addiction, food insecurity, climate change, waste management, affordable housing and road infrastructure.
Chanté White
Chanté White is an advocate for racial justice and climate action. She is a recent graduate of Trent University and a second-generation Canadian. She recently ran for the Green Party in last year’s federal election. Her top campaign priorities are action on climate change, building affordable housing, supporting tiny homes and accessory dwelling units, creating walkable communities, supporting entrepreneurs, providing rehabilitation services for people with addictions, supporting the safe consumption site, stopping drug use stigma, and supporting “inclusive communities.”
Monaghan Ward
Matt Crowley
Matt Crowley is an IT specialist and musician who has lived in Monaghan Ward all his life, according to the Peterborough Examiner. His campaign website states that his priorities are fixing the transit system by adjusting routes and reducing bus fares, “helping our most vulnerable,” “fixing our downtown” by moving homeless populations off the street and into transitional housing, and addressing crime by hiring more police.
Charmaine Magumbe
Charmaine Magumbe is an advocate and community organizer for racial justice, formerly the chair of the Community Race Relations Committee of Peterborough. Her platform prioritizes “3 ‘E’s”: equity, environment and economy, by “championing and advocating for a welcoming community,” creating more affordable housing, advocating for climate action and sustainable development, attracting new businesses to create jobs, funding community centers and encouraging the green economy.
Lyle Saunders
Lyle Saunders is a tax professional and small business owner at Peterborough Disability Tax Services. His campaign platform planks are: improving the downtown, improving financial accountability by “finding and approving additional city revenue to minimize property tax increases,” balancing the City’s budget, improving public services and improving the accessibility of the transit system.
Don Vassiliadis
Having served eight years on city council, Don Vassiliadis is seeking re-election in Monaghan Ward. His campaign website draws attention to the many committees and boards of directors that he has served on. Vassiliadis told the Examiner that local efforts at attracting manufacturers have failed but he has not given up hope of a “regional approach” to economic development.
Jeff Westlake
Jeff Westlake is running for the third time to become city councillor, having run unsuccessfully in 2014 and 2018. He told the Peterborough Examiner that his campaign priorities are: employment, safety, transportation, taxes and addressing wasteful spending. In a Q&A with the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, Westlake expressed an interest in building more housing to address the housing crisis, supporting business, and supporting recovery programs for addiction.
- Campaign promises
- No website
Tom Wigglesworth
Tom Wigglesworth is a retired millwright, according to the Peterborough Examiner, who recently expressed interest in running as a Conservative in last year’s federal election but withdrew. His campaign priorities are: addressing homelessness and addiction, decreasing property taxes by freezing departmental budgets and promoting land development by issuing construction permits faster and speeding up zoning.
- Campaign promises
- No website
Town Ward
Alex Bierk
Alex Bierk grew up in Peterborough, and after some time away returned to open a downtown art studio and raise his young family. According to his campaign website, Bierk has worked with local organizations, the City of Peterborough, local arts institutions and front-line service providers to advocate for a response to the overdose crisis. His platform priorities include the protection of greenspaces, accountability and accessibility from City Hall, supporting small businesses and the downtown core, and responding to the overdose crisis and the needs of unhoused community members with a harm reduction lens.
Brian Christoph
Brian Christoph grew up in East City, before leaving to pursue education. Studying at the University of Regina, Christoph began a career in workers rights, acting as a union organizer for employees in the Saskatchewan hotel industry. Since returning to Peterborough over a decade ago, Christoph has been working downtown to assist unhoused community members with “fill[ing] out forms… [to] apply for assistance such as mental health programs, for example.” As quoted by the Peterborough Examiner, Brian Christoph is running “for the people” and will prioritize housing, transit and responding to the mental health and addiction problems facing unhoused community members.
Vickie Karikas
Vickie Karikas, owner of the Speak Easy Cafe since 2010, was born and raised in the north end of Peterborough. Karikas states on her website that she has a long history of philanthropy, which includes the implementation of a ‘Suspended Meal Program’ at the Speak Easy Cafe that aims to bridge gaps for those in need in and around the downtown core by assisting with food security. According to her website, Karikas’s platform planks include transit, the opioid crisis and community care, public engagement and transparency, supporting a vibrant downtown, the environment, and housing initiatives.
Joy Lachica
Joy Lachica is a former teacher, union leader and politician, who moved to Peterborough from Toronto. She was a classroom teacher, and then worked in union organizing with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. Lachica ran as the NDP candidate for Peterborough–Kawartha in the last federal election. In an interview with the Peterborough Examiner, she promised to support students and families if elected. According to Lachica’s website, her platform priorities include climate change action, housing, food security, innovation and social enterprise, and green renewal.
Dean Pappas
Dean Pappas is an incumbent candidate in Town Ward, having first been elected in 2006. His family has owned and operated Pappas’ Billiards, a downtown bar and restaurant, since 1905. Pappas was chair of city council’s finance committee until a portfolio reassignment last year. According to his website, Pappas’s campaign priorities are housing, homelessness and addiction, action on climate change and the environment, arts and heritage, diversity, enacting the transportation plan, and strengthening “the central area.”
Ashburnham Ward
Gary Baldwin
Two-term city councillor Gary Baldwin is running for re-election in Ashburnham Ward. His campaign website describes him as “experienced, accessible, [and] committed.” His website highlights his work over the past term to make “sensible and sustainable infrastructure improvements in Ashburnham” a priority, and his work to walk 200,000 steps going door-to-door in his ward. In a Q&A for the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce, Baldwin said he supports developer incentives as a solution to the housing crisis, and that he would continue to support local organizations like the safe consumption site by pushing for new funding.
Andrew MacGregor
Andrew MacGregor was a small business owner and financial advisor until he closed his business to work at One Roof Community Center, according to his website. He recently ran as the Green Party candidate for Peterborough-Kawartha in the 2019 federal election. MacGregor’s campaign platform calls for protecting city greenspace and investing in cycling infrastructure, investing in traffic calming infrastructure and bus service improvements. If elected, MacGregor would adopt a “housing first” approach to poverty, increase funding for city shelters, and allow tenting on municipal properties.
Keith Riel
Incumbent councillor Keith Riel is seeking a fourth term representing Ashburnham Ward. Riel told the Peterborough Examiner that easing traffic congestion in East City is a top priority, as well as building more rent-geared-to-income housing. He also spoke about attracting good jobs and clearer communication about property taxes.
- Campaign promises
- No website
Northcrest Ward
Aldo Andreoli
Aldo Andreoli is a RV salesman, who told the Peterborough Examiner he’s fulfilling a longstanding ambition by running for council. If elected, Andreoli said he would work with other councillors to develop solutions to issues like mental health, homelessness, and affordable housing. His platform is intentionally sparse, he told the Examiner, “The only promise I will make is that I will work hard for the constituents and for the Peterborough people.”
- Campaign promises
- No website
Andrew Beamer
Incumbent Andrew Beamer is seeking another term, having served 12 years as councillor. His campaign website describes his recent employment as “manag[ing] Eastern Ontario for a global food company.” On his website, Beamer lists his campaign priorities as: traffic calming in the north end, improving safety by increasing police presence, creating jobs, “fiscal responsibility” through lower property taxes, working on the City’s climate change action goals, maintaining road infrastructure, addressing housing affordability by building new homes and engaging with the public.
Karen Grant
Karen Grant is a graduate of Fleming College, and has worked in the social services sector with a number of demographics including youth and women. According to the Peterborough Examiner, Grant stated that she would prioritize climate action, and that she greatly valued Peterborough’s “culture, arts, and sports.”
- Campaign promises
- No website
Dave Haacke
Dave Haacke is seeking a second term in Northcrest Ward. Owner and commercial salesperson of DNS Real Estate, Haacke told the Peterborough Examiner that he would prioritize expanding the city’s industrial lands, and correcting the “disharmony” of the current city council.
- Campaign promises
- No website
Carlotta James
Carlotta James is a small business owner, landscape designer and environmental advocate. James co-founded the community group Peterborough Pollinators in 2015 and acts as project director and co-founder of Monarch Ultra, which organizes long-distance marathons. According to her website, her campaign platform includes protecting urban biodiversity, acting on local climate solutions, creating affordable housing for families, promoting community well-being and advocating for safe transportation.
Shauna Kingston
Shauna Kingston is a child and youth counsellor. She is currently completing her PhD. On her website, Kingston writes that she “supports council shifting its focus away from gentrification and toward investments in social programs, housing, and the climate emergency.” Other platform priorities include public transportation, decriminalizing poverty, safe housing for all, and protecting green space.
This article is part of Peterborough Currents’ coverage of the 2022 municipal election. We will update this tracker a few times ahead of election day on October 24. Is there something we’ve missed? Let us know. Email [email protected]
