South Frontenac Responds Over Line Spike Accusations : Jeremy Campbell Says He'll Sue

Jeff Green | Jul 10, 2025

On July 3rd South Frontenac Township published a timeline of actions they took in the lead-up to the Line Spike festival.

The timeline concludes with an account of the township's actions on June 25th, which led the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to revoke a liquor license they had granted for the festival.

One of the factors influencing the township's actions, regarding Line Spike, was the projected attendance of the event.

“In March 2025, the township was contacted about the Line Spike Frontenac Event, with a plan to host a two-day event on private property with an estimated attendance of 50,000 people over two days. An event of this size is very large for the township with significant impacts to the community. A process is required to ensure public safety for attendees and residents, limit impact to residents, and reduce strain on municipal infrastructure,” said the July 3 release.

While the township usually does not require extensive assurances when asked to support events on private property that are seeking to obtain a liquor license, this case was different.

“Due to the size and scale of the proposed event, a special event advisory group was organised to review the request,” said the release.

A group consisting of township staff and representatives from a number of agencies was formed.

A list of requirements was then presented to Jeremy Campbell, including “building permits, bylaw requirements, engagement with emergency services, parking plan, proof of insurance, and traffic plan.”

On May 22, when the township received the final plans for Line Spike from Campbell and his own team, the projected attendance at the event had been altered, to 10,000 per day.

The Line Spike Plan “included various commitments including having St John’s Ambulance, Pulsar UV, Frontenac Paramedics, South Frontenac Fire & Rescue on site, as well as hiring paid duty OPP officers,” according to the July 3 township release.

On the basis of this plan, and the receipt of confirmation of insurance for the event, the township approved the “significant event” motion the next time Council met, on June 10.

That meeting had originally been scheduled for June 3rd, but was put off until the 10th.

On June 24thth, township officials learned that the contracts that Line Spike had decided not to maintain their “contracts and commitments with Frontenac Paramedic Services and South Frontenac Fire & Rescue. This led to St John’s ambulance withdrawing their services for the event.”

After contacting Campbell to see if other arrangements could be made, and concluding that was not going to happen, township staff informed Campbell that it  “would be revoking its Municipally Significant Event Designation due to agreed commitments no longer being met.”

An emergency meeting of Council took place, later that afternoon, to formally revoke the designation.

On June 26, Jeremy Campbell was notified that the AGCO had revoked the liquor license.

As has been previously reported, Jeremy Campbell posted on social media on June 26 and subsequently about the decision.

His account is consistent with the timeline in the township release.

However, he said that a combination of delays on the part of the township, along with costs for services that kept increasing as time grew tight, forced him to retreat from commitments that he had made in good faith.

In a telephone interview with the News on July 3rd, Campbell said that the process the township developed to deal with Line Spike was too long and went well beyond what was called for, and that harmed the festival financially.

He also said that the contract that he received from Frontenac Paramedic services was full of errors, so I corrected it and sent it back to them. They then doubled the price, more than doubled the price actually.”

Jeremy Campbell said that he cancelled the contract with Frontenac Paramedic Services over pricing (almost $15,000) and with South Frontenac Fire and Rescue, which was for a little less than $6,000.

“In the end, I just had to cut costs. I had no choice. The fire department  provides the same service for all other events for free. I am the only one who was being billed for it.

When he was contacted by South Frontenac CAO Louise Fragnitio on June 24, and told that the township was going to pull their support for the liquor license, Campbell  said “I phoned her and told her that she should think very carefully, then I had to open the floodgates.”

He now intends to sue the township for their actions leading up to the festival.

He said there is a direct relationship between the time gap between early March and June 10 for the township to pass the “significant event” motion, and many of the financial struggles faced by Line Spike.

“I owe over $150,000, on top of the money I spent,” he said, “because the township did not understand how large events operate, and they got in the way. My losses came as the direct result of their actions.”

Campbell said that 2000 tickets were sold before the liquor permit was lifted on June 26.

“You can never say with certainty how many ticket sales were lost, but from what I have been told by organisers of outdoor events like this one, it is only at the last minute that ticket sales jump.

“On Sunday afternoon, we announced that the festival was free and we ended up with over 4,000 people coming out to see. Burton Cummings,” he said.

Jeremy Campbell had a confrontation with a member of South Frontenac Council at the Canada Day parade in Sydenham, two days after Line Spike.

“He did not know me, but he was spreading false information about my event, so I told him who I was and that none of what he was saying was true. He said, and this is verbatim, 'I was only doing what I was told'.  That is clear evidence that council did not really know what was going on.”

Potential litigation against the township will not impact the future of Line Spike, Campbell said. He said he has a five year arrangement to hold future events at the Day farm, an ideal site..

“It was a great festival, people loved it,” he said