Board Biographies

Nancy Martin - Board Chairperson

Nancy Martin was appointed to the Peterborough Lakefield Police Service Board in April 2006 by Order in Council. She was reappointed to the Board for a further 3-year term in April 2009 and currently serves as Chair.  She previously served as Vice-Chair of the Board and the Chair of the Labour Relations Committee.

She has served on and chaired numerous non-profit boards in Peterborough. Nancy worked as a Family Support Coordinator for low-income families at the Peterborough Family Resource Centre and as a Program Manager at Community Counseling and Resource Centre, managing the Information Centre and Volunteer Bureau. She was a trustee of the Peterborough County Board of Education and served as Chair for 3 years. She also served on the Ontario Parole Board as a member and as Hearing Chair.

Currently she sits on the Board of the Peterborough Foundation, is the Membership Coordinator of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and is on the Programme Committee of the Peterborough Historical Society.

Nancy is a life long resident of Peterborough. She is married with three children.

R. Kenneth Armstrong - Board Vice-Chair

Kenneth Armstrong is a provincial appointee on the Peterborough Lakefield Community Police Services Board.
Ken was President of the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce on two consecutive occasions. He is also a former Director of the Peterborough Museum and Archives. In 1983, Ken was appointed to the Ontario Bicentennial Commission to oversee the province’s 200th anniversary celebration.

In 1995, Mr. Armstrong was appointed by the federal government to the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. He served for seven years as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee overseeing annual expenditures of over $30 million. In 2005, he was appointed the Chair of the eleven person National Board.

Prior to his appointment of the Police Services Board, Ken was a provincial appointee to the Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant Review Team.

He is a former Peterborough “Citizen of the Year” and is a recipient of the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. 

Daryl Bennett - Mayor of Peterborough

Daryl Bennett was born and raised in the City of Peterborough.

He attended Armour Heights Public School and Peterborough Collegiate Vocational Institute. As one of the owners of the Liftlock Group, Mr. Bennett helped develop a diversified and successful transportation-related enterprise with which he has been actively involved for more than forty years.

Mr. Bennett is also active in his community, having served as a Board Member and Chair of the Community Futures Development Corporation, a Member of the Board of Governors of Trent University, and a leader in the efforts to save the Market Hall and build the Peterborough Regional Health Centre. He is an active contributor to a wide variety of community organizations, and a member of The British North American Committee. In 2004, he was chosen as the Citizen of The Year by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.

On October 25, 2010, in his first run for public office, Mr. Bennett was elected Mayor of Peterborough.

He and his wife Jewell have two sons and one daughter, all of whom are involved in the family business. 

Mary J. Smith - Reeve Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield Township

Mary Smith was elected to the position of Reeve of the Township of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield for the term of 2010-2014. Her municipal career began in 1998, when she was acclaimed as Deputy Reeve of the Village of Lakefield and automatically became a Councillor for the County of Peterborough. Elected Lakefield Ward Councillor for the new Township of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield in 2000, Mary served two terms in that position. In 2006, she was elected Deputy Reeve for the Township of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield and once again served on Council for the County of Peterborough.

Since 2001, she continues to serve as the Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield member on the Peterborough Lakefield Police Services Board. She is also a member of the Ennismore Community Centre Renovation Project Committee, the Peterborough County-City Board of Health, Peterborough County Land Division Committee and the Peterborough County Awards and Bursaries Committee. A strong advocate on environmental issues and knowing the importance of clean water to our quality of life, Mary is pleased to be the Chairperson of the Municipal Sub-Committee and a member of the Trent Conservation Coalition - Drinking Water Source Protection Committee.

Mary believes it is a privilege to be involved in politics! She enjoys meeting people and the many opportunities to learn about the local community.

Mary has deep roots in the Kawarthas, as she grew up on a dairy farm in the former Emily Township and has lived in Lakefield with her husband Al for 34 years. They proudly raised their 3 children here, who are now 32, 29 and 26.

Mary enjoys swimming, cycling, gardening, canoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking, camping and spending time with family.

Robert Lightbody - Member                                                                                                  

Robert Lightbody is the community appointee on the Peterborough Lakefield Police Services Board.

Bob was a member of the first graduating class of Trent University receiving a BSc. in Math and Economics in 1967. He was a member of the Board of Governors of Trent University for eleven years and served on the Executive Committee and as a Chair of the Property Committee. He has also served as a trustee of the Trent University Foundation and is presently a member of the Trent University Planned Giving Advisory Committee.

From 1974 to 2008, Bob was a partner in the law firm of Lech Lightbody and O’Brien and from 2008 to 2009, was an associate with the law firm of Lockington, Lawless, Fitzpatrick until his retirement.

From 1991 to the present, Mr. Lightbody has been a Director of the Little Lake Cemetery Company, serving as President for two years and is presently the Chair of the Strategic Long Range Planning Committee.

Bob was also a Director of Farmers’ Mutual Insurance Company from 2000 to 2009 serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee; as member of the Governance and Policy Review Committee and as President in 2006 and 2007.

He continues to play Peterborough Recreational Oldtimers Hockey and enjoys his four wonderful grandchildren.