Proposed Peterborough bylaw amendment aims to diffuse tension with Food Not Bombs

The City of Peterborough has issued no-trespassing notices to Food Not Bombs in recent weeks. For years the group has served food at Confederation Park without a permit.

Peterborough city council on Monday will decide whether to amend a bylaw that could give grassroots group Food Not Bombs Peterborough an exemption to continue to serving food at Confederation Square.

The organization for nearly two decades has served free meals to those in need, utilizing what they say is surplus food from farms, grocers and other community sources.

Beginning in 2005, the meals were first served each Monday inside City Hall’s lobby before shifting across the street to Confederation Square in 2011. In the 19 years of serving food, the group says it was never required to have a permit.

But late last month, the city began enforcing a Parks and Facilities bylaw introduced in 2019 that prohibits tenting and offering food in public parks. The city issued the group a trespass notice.

However, on April 1, the group again served food at Confederation Square. A bylaw officer issued another trespass notice but the group declined to leave.

During city council meeting’s meeting a day later, David Potts, the city’s legislative services commissioner, said the group is contravening the bylaw by establishing a large tent and serving food on municipal property.

“They’re an unincorporated association of individuals. It’s not a legal person,” he said during the meeting. “There’s no one to make an application for a legal permit.”

In a statement on Sunday, the group says its sharing of free meals is an “act of solidarity, celebration and mutual aid.”