A former mayor of the City of Peterborough tells us we should get rid of the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corp (GPAEDC). Douglas Galvin, a Peterborough lawyer, insists that within GPAEDC there a conflict of interest between the city and county in respect to industrial and commercial development. We at OurTrent note that GPAEDC is touted as a partner by the promoters of the DNA cluster project. Would you want a partner that is rife with conflicts of interest that can only be resolved by the dissolution of the organization itself?

There is a complete conflict of interest between the city and county in the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corp. (GPAEDC) with respect to industrial and commercial development.

It is difficult to understand why no member of city council has raised the issue.

County council in June 2004 made a unilateral decision to get out of the relationship with the city in GPAEDC. No phone call. No notification.

Mayor Sylvia Sutherland said it was like getting served with divorce papers while preparing dinner. That is totally ridiculous. We are not married to the county. Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield and Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan already have their own economic development staffs that compete directly with GPAEDC.

Now negotiations have been going on for a month to keep GPAEDC alive.

GPAEDC was a flawed concept from the beginning. You cannot serve two masters.

When it was formed in 1999, I told city council: “Don’t do it. If you want a joint venture, then do it in tourism. Don’t do it on commercial and industrial development.
It won’t work.” They didn’t listen. They didn’t understand then and they don’t understand now about the meaning of a conflict of interest. The city is competing with the county on commercial and industrial development.

The townships surrounding the City of Peterborough and the county are basically parasites. They sit on the city’s border with cheaper taxes and object to urban expansion.

The townships adjacent to the city designate areas in their official plans which are called “urban fringe” for a distance of about one kilometre. What does that mean? It means that development should be restricted. It means it should be urban strokes for urban folks and rural strokes for rural folks.

Anyone who suggests that the surrounding townships and county are not in direct competition with the city for commercial and industrial development is a fool.

Look back to the mid-1970s when Smith Township tried to develop the Multi-Mall commercial site on Chemong Road at the first stoplight north of Portage Place. The city objected. The issue was who was going to get the shopping centre: Smith Township with Multi-Malls or the city with Portage Place?

The Ontario Municipal Board hearing lasted three months and cost the taxpayers of the city millions of dollars, but the city won. Basically it was urban strokes for urban folks. This is one example of direct commercial competition or conflict.

According to the Peterborough Examiner, Bill Lockington, Chairman of GPAEDC, told board members 10 days ago that he was hoping to have a contract inked with the city and county by March 4, 2005.

Had some deal been negotiated behind the scenes without the public’s input that was to be signed on March 4?

Maybe councillors believe they are not capable of taking staff from GPAEDC and running their own commercial and industrial department. If that is the situation, they should resign. Industrial and commercial development is important. It is our lifeblood.

Look at the provincial policy statement of February 16, 2005. The city is designated as the urban growth centre. Places to grow need sewer, water, density to support transit, etc. etc. Does the county not understand? They just don’t have it.

Does anyone remember Neal Cathcart, reeve of the township of Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan and warden of the County of Peterborough, saying “not one blade of grass” to the city’s approach at annexation. That is about as straight-forward an answer as the city could get.

We need annexation or amalgamation. The City of Kawartha Lakes is certainly not happy with amalgamation and Peterborough would not be either. That leaves us with annexation. The city should go to the province and demand annexation and fight for it. We win or lose. We have planning arguments on our side. The county has pump-handle politicians on its side.

Yes, we need to get rid of this useless GPAEDC. We cannot have the fox and the chickens working together in the same hen house.

Douglas Galvin is a lawyer and former mayor of Peterborough.