Cobourg mayor Lucas Cleveland appeared in Ottawa’s west block building on April 9th before the standing committee on finance to talk about what he described as the dire situation in Cobourg and Northumberland County as it pertains to rental rates, housing, vacancy rates, the cost of groceries and the ongoing issues with homelessness, mental health and addiction.
He had a lot of questions – largely based on one’s he’s been asked by residents – to ask on their behalf.
Cleveland spoke about what he described as omissions from Bill C59, a bill that proposes a number of measures to enhance Canada’s national security framework with a view to keeping Canadians safe and also respecting and upholding Charter-protected rights and freedoms and the values of our free and democratic society.
The mayor expressed his frustration that, for many of the issues identified by residents, the municipal level of government is not in a position to address their concerns and therefore he had come to Ottawa in hopes of getting some answers.
Cleveland spoke about the lack of provisions in Bill C59 which was created to keep Canadians safe.
Cleveland spoke to his role as a business owner who found it increasing difficult just to break even after 7 years in business. He described Cobourg as a community “completely under seige” which motivated him to run for and be elected as Mayor with no previous political experience.
The mayor then posed a series of questions representative of what he called 99.5 percent of the issues he’s challenged with by residents.
“When is this government going to seriously look at bail reform? Why isn’t this part of Bill C59?”
“How many people need to be assaulted during their lunch breaks, in front of their children for just being in our community? How many more women need to feel attacked and threatened?”
“How many times does the Cobourg Police Service need to arrest the same person, for the same crimes, before we actually are going to put them away to stop them terrorizing our communities?”
“Why is there nothing in this Bill addressing the failed drug strategy that is destroying my community?”
“When will this government listen to the thousands of seniors, women and families in our community, and those from across this county, who tell us that they are afraid to come out of their homes due to the lawlessness, the erratic behaviour and the changing face of poverty and mental illness on our streets – why isn’t Bill C59 creating more treatment options for our most vulnerable?”
Responding to questions from the panel which included Northumberland Peterborough South MP Philip Lawrence, Cleveland talked about $1950 a month being the asking price for a one-bedroom rental – if you can find one – and more like $2500+ a month for a two-bedroom.
Cleveland drove home the issue of affordability in Cobourg saying “I can’t live in Cobourg without a room mate, let alone afford a house in our community.”
MP Lawrence asked Cleveland to expand on the cost of groceries from his perspective of a grocery store owner. Cleveland sited that wholesale prices over the last five years have tripled which has affected on not just retail customers, but also the restaurants he supplies. He said that the cost of food has increased at such dramatic rates that “…the people of Cobourg can’t even afford the quality of life that they had five years ago.”
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
