‘I’ve watched our community drift into total chaos’: Cobourg mayor
Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland has some issues with the way the federal government spends its money, and on Tuesday he went to Parliament Hill to express his frustrations.
Invited to speak before the Standing Committee on Finance, Cleveland focused his criticism on Bill C-59 — an act to implement provisions of the fall economic statement from last November, along with certain provisions of the budget tabled last month.
“I’m one of those people who lost everything … my career, my home, my retirement savings, due to the decisions of this level of government,” he told the committee. “I’d like to address why this bill doesn’t help small business owners, of which I am one.
“You see, after returning home from Alberta, and eight years, I’ve built a business with my partner. Yet every year it gets harder and harder to even break even. I’m curious why Bill C-59 continues the legacy of not standing with our small business community in this country.”
With his partner, Cleveland moved to the area about eight years ago and they subsequently opened their business — The Market & Smør — as a community hub focused on healthy food, zero food waste, and easy, to-go items.
But like other business owners in his community, they’ve felt pressures to remain successful.
On Tuesday, he said he could speak strictly as a business owner with frustrations, but he wanted to address the committee for the citizens of Cobourg.
“I’m here because I desperately need this level of government to listen to their concerns; the ones they share with me every single day,” he said. “I need you to listen because they keep coming to me to fix the problems that only this level of government can actually fix.”
Cleveland said ahead of the 2022 municipal election in Cobourg, he had no political experience, but his experiences as a business owner in the community prompted him to run.
“I’ve watched our community drift into total chaos. I mean, I was happy just running my business, but our community is completely under siege and so I needed to try and do something,” he said. “So here I stand 18 months later, as a first-time mayor, proud of the drastic and immediate changes that we have made in Cobourg and at the county level.
“I am proud of the work and attention our local community and county is getting both provincially and internationally for the work we’re doing. But I need to get this level of government’s attention, because when I hear from my constituents, 99.5 per cent of the issues they complain about day in and day out, their fears, their concerns, the things they want fixed and they’re asking me to fix, it’s up to this level of government to address them.”
As an example, he brought up the issue of bail reform, and how changes are needed to make his constituents feel safer in their community.
Why isn’t it part of our Bill C-59, he asked.
“I mean, how many people need to be assaulted? During their lunch breaks in my community, in front of their children for just being in our community, how many more women need to feel attacked and threatened?
“How many times do 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 terrorizing our communities?”
Cleveland asked why there is nothing in the 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 communities and those from across this country 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?”
Cleveland said there needs to be something in the bill about helping the vulnerable to improve their lives.
“Why is it falling to us, the lowest tier of a government agency, to enact bylaws in our community to set standards of care for our most vulnerable?”
Cobourg council recently passed an Emergency Shelter Establishment bylaw at the urge of many residents concerned with the operation of a proposed shelter on Division Street in the town.
The bylaw requires 24/7 security on-site and within 500 metres, a code of conduct for shelter occupants that aligns with the town’s nuisance bylaw, a maintenance schedule for items like litter and waste accumulation within 500 metres of a shelter facility, and a local 24/7 contact who is available to respond to matters involving the facility within one hour for any issue.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to introduce the next budget on Tuesday.