2026 Municipal Election Social Issues Debate

On October 7th, 2026, a coalition of community organizations in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough hosted an all-candidates mayoral debate on ‘social issues.’ The coalition included the New Canadian Centre, the Community Resilience Action Network (CRAN), Basic Income Peterborough, the Community Health Centre, the United Way, One City Peterborough (OCP), and the Research for Social Change Lab (RSCL). At an initial planning session, it was decided that the format of the debate would differ from previous local debates, organized by the United Way, OCP, and the RSCL. Rather than asking each candidate a list of questions, the coalition decided to organize an interview-style debate format in which candidates be prompted by the moderators to expand further on one issue. The goal of the organizing coalition was to create a debate that stressed the importance of democratic values like transparency and accountability. With the introduction of so-called ‘Strong Mayor Powers’ and increased community concern about the process of decision-making at City Hall, the coalition believed it is valuable to remind mayoral candidates that they are accountable to the demos (or, the people).  

With this goal in mind, the coalition members developed a list of questions that touched on key areas of municipal responsibility, including affordability, public safety and immigration to Peterborough. The following report is a detailed breakdown of the debate from the perspectives of two Trent University students and RSCL researcher assistants who attended the debate – one in-person and one online. Following this breakdown, in the appendices, you can find the list of questions and case studies (appendix 1) discussed at the debate and the corresponding written responses to all questions from the candidates who chose to supply them (appendix 2).