Peterborough is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. The population of Peterborough was 45,965 in 2006. The mayor of Peterborough is Bob Kilger. Adam Scott, a settler, began construction of a sawmill and gristmill on the west shore of the Otonabee River and established the area as "Scott's Plains". In 1822, the British Parliament approved an experimental emigration plan which would transport poor Irish families to Upper Canada. The scheme was managed by Peter Robinson, who was at the time a politician in York (present-day Toronto). The area of Scott's Plains was renamed "Peterborough" in Robinson's honour. During 1850, Peterborough was incorporated as a town and grew to a population of 2,191. The town of Peterborough later grew into a city on July 1, 1905.