500 George Street North, Peterborough, Ontario, K9H 3R9

Office of the Mayor

November 24, 2017

The Honourable Chris Ballard, M.P.P.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Ferguson Block
11th Floor
77 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2T5

(via email minister.moecc@ontario.ca with original to follow by courier)

Dear Minister,

Re: City of Peterborough Parkway Corridor Class Environmental Assessment

Thank you for your correspondence dated Nov. 22, 2017.

I reiterate from my letter to you dated Nov. 2, 2017 that the Citys primary focus of our meeting with you was to
have our concerns about the ability of the City to move forward with a reasonable and cost effective method to
address our immediate transportation network needs heard by yourself and Premier Wynne. I did not indicate
that the City will proceed with an Individual Environmental Assessment; rather I stated that I appreciated the
offer from the Ministry to assist and guide the development of scoped terms of reference for that process and
that City Staff would be following up with the Ministry on this offer. The determination of whether to proceed
with an Individual Environmental Assessment would be a decision of the elected City Council, just as the City
Council elected by the citizens of Peterborough has approved proceeding with the project to this point even
after this matter was widely debated during the last municipal election.

We too take public concerns very seriously. Several Council members have campaigned on proceeding with this
project in response to the concerns of residents about traffic conditions plaguing neighbourhoods throughout
our community, overcapacity streets, and the need for new housing and neighbourhoods that will generate
additional traffic. As you are no doubt aware, the Citys vacancy rate is now at 1% or less, causing incredible
pressures on the affordability of housing and the need for new housing. Other Council members campaigned
against The Parkway extension in response to concerns from residents about the loss of green space in this
transportation corridor. Numerous public meetings have been held to consider public feedback and input, not
just through the recent Environmental Assessment process, but throughout countless iterations of this
discussion that stretches back more than 60 years in Peterborough. All of this has informed the
recommendations by City Staff and decisions by City Council.
 500 George Street North, Peterborough, Ontario, K9H 3R9

Office of the Mayor

For clarification purposes, the City appreciates the offer by the Ministry to meet to discuss a Terms of Reference
for an Individual Environmental Assessment. The Citys abundance of caution on proceeding with that step is
based on the concern over the continued expenditure of time and taxpayers money on consultants under
provincial requirements when the Minister took two years to respond to the initial Environmental Assessment
submission. City Council attempted to respond to the Ministers direction by offering to remove the bridge from
the Parkway proposal if the Minister would allow the City to proceed with the north and south sections of the
two lane road, saving the taxpayers money by avoiding more studies and consultants on yet more
Environmental Assessment requirements. Thank you for listening.

I can presume that City Council will wait to see the outcome of the looming provincial election before
determining how best to proceed.

Thank you again for your time and assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl Bennett
Mayor

cc:

Councillor Henry Clarke

Councillor Don Vassiliadis
Councillor Lesley Parnell
Councillor Dan McWilliams
Councillor Andrew Beamer
Councillor Dave Haacke
Councillor Keith Riel
Councillor Gary Baldwin
Councillor Dean Pappas
Councillor Diane Therrien
Allan Seabrooke, Chief Administrative Office, City of Peterborough
Wayne Jackson, Utility Services Director, City of Peterborough