For the past several years, Cobourg Council has awarded grants – in kind or cash – to various local organizations that took the trouble to apply. During the 2024 budget sessions, Mayor Lucas Cleveland and Councillor Darling were unhappy with the process. An initial list created by Councillor Burchat was not approved – instead a budget of $30,000 was approved with instructions to staff on creating a new process. It was not entirely clear to Councillors, Staff or me but the idea seemed to be that some grants should be given ongoing approval – especially in-kind and/or those who have generally been approved every year. At the Standing Committee meeting on April 2, staff put forward an analysis of previous grants and asked Council for direction on how to proceed (see memo in Resources).
Per Council’s previous direction, the idea is that Memorandum’s of Understanding (MOUs) would be set up for regular grants – staff identified five long term in-kind recipients and two long-term cash grant recipients.
Long term in-kind
- Cobourg and District Historical Society
- Cobourg Ecology Garden
- Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club
- Victoria Hall Volunteers
- Victorian Operetta Society
Total requested: $11,291.65
Long term Cash
- Cobourg Museum Foundation – Property Taxes
- Cobourg Ecology Garden (this is not a typo – they are on both lists)
Total requested: $9,500 – so a total of $20,791.65 leaving about $9,200 up for allocation.
These 7 would have MOUs set up – they would each come to Council for approval. Another problem is making a decision on who should get free use of the Concert Hall. This needs a policy.
But the 7 MOUs do not use up the $30K approved.
For some unexplained reason, six organizations showed up at the meeting with presentations on why they should get a grant – perhaps it was because they felt that since they were not part of the 7 recommended to get setup with an MOU then maybe they should be or maybe they could get part of the $9,200? Lucas asked each if they had approached the county – all said no even though all served the whole county.
Presenters at Meeting
- Horizons of Friendship
- Northumberland Oral Health Coalition
- Film Access Northumberland
- Big Sisters, Big Brothers
- Northumberland Humane Society
- Northumberland County Food Banks (Fare Share)
Lucas did not want Council to be choosing grants each year – an independent third party should decide.
After a long debate, Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty put a motion on the floor that 1) delegated staff to create the MOUs, 2) asked for a policy to be drafted re free use of the Concert Hall and 3) find a third party (maybe United Way?) to choose other grant recipients (“other” meaning those without an MOU). Confusing isn’t it?
But before it passed, Lucas moved the following amendment:
FURTHER THAT no grants in any form inclusive of in kind will be given to either “Green Wood Coalition” or “Moms stop the harm” for the remainder of this term of Council.
When asked “why?”, Lucas said he had received many emails on the subject – he did not elaborate.
But this amendment did not pass. In a recorded vote, Nicole Beatty, Randy Barber, Adam Bureau and Aaron Burchat voted against Lucas; Miriam and Brian Darling supported the amendment. After the main motion passed without the amendment, Miriam spoke passionately about the issue – very passionately. She said that these organizations “harm people”. Nicole said she was offended by Miriam’s remarks.
This motion needs to be ratified at the regular Council meeting on 24 April. Perhaps Miriam’s strong words will yet get support for the amendment by Lucas.
Resources
Reports on Cobourg Blog
- Community Grants requests get trimmed – 18 January 2024
- Council Approves 2024 budget unchanged – 1 Feb 2024
Addendum – 5 April 2024
April 5
Letter from Green Wood Coalition to Town of Cobourg (Director Brent Larmer)
Green Wood Coalition has been disappointed by the politicization and misinformation that has emerged publicly in relation to our application for in-kind use of the Victoria Hall Concert Hall, on May 9, 2024.This has marked a significant departure from the positive, collaborative relationship that Green Wood Coalition has enjoyed with the Town of Cobourg over many years.
For these reasons, we officially withdraw our Community Grant application, as of this date. Please inform Council of this change, and let me know if you require anything else from us. We will pay the full rental fee for use of the Concert Hall on May 9, as outlined in our rental contract.
(Signed)
David Sheffield
Executive Director
greenwoodcoalition.com
NOTE. This post is about grants and the granting process. It’s not about homelessness, drugs or taxes or the sunshine list. Remember, off-topic comments get deleted.
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Let’s forget about the East pier and pretend it doesn’t exist,,, oh you already have
Even though this is a relatively small part of the Cobourg budget it has lots of attention. Likely because the names of some groups are connected with the biggest problem we have in Cobourg. Charities are required to disclose certain information. It is suggested below that GWC needs to be audited.
GREEN WOOD COALITION — Charity Data
From this data we know in 2022 the revenue was $342k and staff compensation was $253k. Most of any money donated goes directly to the pockets of the people working for the charity. As far as I know this is quite common. When you factor in other expenses such as advertising, running the office, etc. how much of a donation actually goes to help the intended recipient? I’m just using GWC as an example of how charities operate. Some of the staff compensation is for their time to work with people in need so the numbers alone can be misleading.
Charities have employees who need to keep donations coming in to keep their jobs. Is this much different than police force wanting more money for more people and equipment to deal with drug related crime? Politician spend much of their time seeking donations to get elected.
So much money spent just keeping the systems working. I prefer to be more self-sufficient, work to help myself, and help people directly instead of donating to organization who spend most of the money on themselves. It is a personal choice. I am not criticizing anybody who donates to charities just pointing out where much of the money goes.
As always, interesting comments, perspectives and positions. Like them or hate them, the Council is trying to address concerns from every quarter, and at the same time trying to follow rule of law and abide by their extant polices, regulations and established procedures.
It is very easy to come up with solutions but difficult to come up with solutions that are in line with established legislation. Trust me – I’m military and I see how cumbersome the borg is, and how easy it sucks the life out of well-meaning people.
The system is broken. If this council were to try to ‘fix’ the system, you will find those who normally received a grant from the system will rise up with outrage and say they are being discriminated against.
I’ll be upfront and honest – if I were king, I would suspend (not get rid of) grants and establish criteria in regards to when they will be re-instated – maybe criteria such as a no deficit budget, or when taxpayers are not burdened with another tax increase. Something to make it affordable. Not ideological.
But then again, I tend to charge windmills just cause I can. Sporting.
Cheers all. Happy post ecliptic Tuesday.
NAI, based on experience I seriously doubt that I’ll ever see a Cobourg budget without a huge tax increase. A government that doesn’t suck more from the taxpayers each year is even less common than total solar eclipses!
Some of the community grants — allowing a charity to use meeting rooms in Victoria Hall for example — cost nothing. Why not continue with such and deny any request for money?
Ken, I was drinking when I read your comment and coca cola spurted out my nose! Thanks for the chuckle and the dose of reality. I can always hope for no tax increases, right?!?!? 🙂
I agree with allowing ‘no cost’ requests to go ahead – should they even be considered ‘grants’? Or is that just a way for an organization to say they received support from the town, and for the town to say at year end ‘we provided xyz organization a grant’?
My comment about no grants referred to more the financial outlay part. But your point is well taken too, thanks…
The Town should require any group wanting support to register as a “qualified” community organization annually to determine if they are actually impacting our community positively and effectively according to their stated mandate. This would include a review of their finances, Board, and programs. Those needing support to carry out their good works should be supported. Those who want a free subsidy to pad their bottom line as they work an agenda should be excluded. No support without oversight.
James I don’t believe GWC even has a board anymore.
GWC has a registered charity number on their website. I think a non-profit or charity needs to have a board of directors. If GWC has no board they could be in serious trouble with CRA. If there is no board the decision to provide Community Grants is quite easy.
I believe that a registered charity must have a board with at least three members according to CRA guidelines. However, I’ve heard repeated rumours that the entire board of GWC resigned recently. Can anyone closely connected to GWC confirm or refute?
I have also heard the same rumour. The only list of board members I can find has six names and that was from 2022. I know for a fact that one of those board members has resigned.
More transparency from GWC is needed. The amount of money GWC receives in grants and funding should demand more transparency and the board members names should be listed for the public to see.
People who donate to Greenwood receive info on a regular basis and financial info annually. You want more information, please start donating.
lol – no thank you. I’m hearing from a lot of people that GWC used to do good things for this community- and I believe they did. Somehow along the way they became aligned with Missy, Tweakeasy and safe injection sites. Missy and Tweakeasy are radical anarchists (self proclaimed). I think an apology to the town of Cobourg for pushing this drug fuelled agenda above all else would help to repair the damage done, and hopefully begin a collaborative effort to work with the town instead of against it. There’s drugs on school yards, drugs on playgrounds- that could harm or potentially even kill children- and they’ve told us to just “accept it.” No thank you. Let’s get these people some real help but just letting addicts run rampant and put everyone at risk is just not a solution. GWC keeps pushing this as the solution for some bizarre reason.
Unfortunately this isn’t going to happen as GWC subscribes to the idea of providing safe injection and supervised consumption sites as well as providing drug paraphernalia to addicts. This does not align with most Town of Cobourg taxpayers and certainly falls outside of the purview of conducting small town municipal business. I think creating distance between GWC and the Town is best for all involved.
The blame for the the opioid crisis we find ourselves in- across the country (and even the world) is not the fault of Greenwood Coalition.
The country wide crisis may not be their fault, but the local one is. They’ve encouraged addicts to come from far and wide for ‘help’ but this help entailed telling the rest of us to suck it up and let people do their drugs wherever and whenever they choose. Make drugs illegal again. Get people the real help they deserve, in a facility with professionals. And yes, there is money for this as the county spend half a million in 3 months servicing 23 people at an encampment with EMS and police services. If one of the overpaid bureaucrats at the top could take their head out of their butt for one second they could easily find the money for a large facility (away from schools) to get these people real help so hopefully they can re join society and have a meaningful life. Enabling and telling people that being a drug user is a totally acceptable way of life is ruining their lives and mine (and everyone else in Cobourg). We’ve all had enough of this failed experiment. I’ll never accept drugs on my kids school yard (CR Gummow) or at a playground that could actually kill them. I fear it will take a dead kid before someone actually takes this seriously. This is the hill I will die on as my kids are at imminent risk and I’ll stop at nothing to protect them.
Well said!
Attempting to blame any anti-poverty organization for what is an across country national and global homeless and opioid crises diverts the blame from where it belongs. And that is a real problem . We need solutions.
Yes, Linda, we need solutions. Groups such as GWC and Moms Stop The Harm that do not unequivocally condemn trespassing, normalizing usage of illegal drugs, public consumption of drugs, safe injection sites, free drugs for addicts and related ideas are not part of the solution.
Solution 1: Resources should be allocated equally throughout Northumberland. Each person experiencing homelessness should be able to access resources in their hometown. There should not be a hub in Cobourg for all of Northumberland. People who experience homelessness are exposed to more drug use and drift further toward the point of no return when surrounded by other addicted individuals
Solution 2: Create and enforce by-laws. If you cannot follow the basic rules set out when sharing space with others, you should not be able to access the same resources meant for those trying to get their lives in order. Stigmatize poor behavior. Why are we coddling those who seem to take no responsibility for their actions?
Having traveled and observed cultures from around the world, I can tell you without a doubt that these communities are the most entitled and emboldened groups I have ever come across, even though they have greater access to resources than nearly any other country in the world. There is a complete lack of gratitude
I don’t think you can call GWC an anti-poverty organization at this point. More like a pro drug and lawlessness organization. I’d love to find a local anti-poverty organization I can volunteer with as there are so many families, seniors and individuals living in poverty that need help. Unfortunately the local ones have all handed together and contributed to this mess. By propping up the drug addicts we are actively harming those that want help and would actually better their lives if given the chance. GWC has intertwined itself with Missy and Tweakeasy who call themselves anarchists and literally find it funny to destroy Cobourg (look at their FB pages). Do better GWC a lot of people were counting on you.
You’re right, the international/nation opioid crisis is not GWC’s fault, but they are certainly throwing gasoline on the local scene. We don’t need it or them.
I’d rather donate my money to the dozens of children abandoned by your “most vulnerable”. Your boos mean nothing, I’ve seen what make you cheer.
Current cigarette smoking has declined from 20.9% (nearly 21 of every 100 adults) in 2005 to 11.5% (nearly 12 of every 100 adults) in 2021.
Stigmatization works. Education works. Enabling does NOT work.
I believe an audit is called for GWC.
I would really like to know who serves on the board of GWC. Surely Missy McClean is long gone as far too many people are now aware of her harmful ideological beliefs. How they let a person like that on their board is beyond me. She openly wants to defund the police, abolish prisons… basically states we need to burn it all down so her new world may rise from the ashes. Her nice people use drugs shirts and smug face is something that hopefully won’t be seen in their ranks ever again.
Green Wood Coalition Annual Report for 2022, & 2023 should be on line if you goggle it.
I have linked the 2021 Annual Report and you can see the Board of Directors on Page 2, also on Page 11 see contributors and notice over $10,000.00 contribution is from Northumberland County Social Services, our tax dollars.
https://www.greenwoodcoalition.com/_files/ugd/cc4a0c_87c9299ec43b489f94584b617a8a3f6b.pdf
I am sick and tired of this council fighting and arguing over 30,000 in community grants. Most of these are requests for the events and things that made us the feel good town. We will have nothing pretty soon. The mayor is so busy making us a big corporation, most of the town staff don’t live here and the Mayor and Barber have only lived here a short time. It has taken years to build all the volunteer groups and to treat them with such contempt and lack of feeling makes me very disheartened for the future of this town. They are so busy finding funds to redecorate and enlarging our already over staffed town hall, and council looking for more money for themselves that they don’t take the time to research what made us great. Keep in mind also when praising the mayor he could have stopped 310 at county level and we wouldn’t be in the position we are in now. Also while I’m at it I am devastated that the town did not step up and help the Highland Games all over parking costs. They also are not spending any time on the downtown which is also a part of making our town special and unique. I have lived here for 48 years so while not a native I have worked, donated and supported so much in this town I am so sad that this group are taking us down.
James, much of what you suggest is (at least was) part of the community grant approval process. As part of the budget approval discussions many organizations gave presentations to Council regarding their benefits to the community and why they deserve funding.
Your approach has been Cobourg Taxpayer (CTA) policy for years. See https://cobourgtaxpayers.ca/wp-content/uploads/delegations/20150928-cta-community-grants-policy-speaking-notes.pdf for our detailed delegation from nine years ago.
I almost missed the addendum above, the letter from Green Wood Coalition dated April 5th withdrawing their community grant application. I had emailed all town councilors regarding my feelings about the Grant motion Mayor Cleveland proposed and can only assume many others did too finally.
I find the wording of the letter from Green Wood Coalition interesting. Misinformation? This underestimates the citizens of Cobourg. The “positive, collaborative relationship that Green Wood Coalition has enjoyed with the Town of Cobourg” – I’m assuming that refers to town council, as residents of Cobourg were not mentioned.
Council/staff need to establish guidelines regarding who is allowed to rent town facilities such as Victoria Hall. Drug dealers/enablers are not acceptable customers!
The reason GWC has lost the positive collaborative relationship with the Town of Cobourg is because they refuse to speak out against the drug fuelled chaos occurring in Cobourg. Most taxpayers did not support a grant being given to GWC and it’s unfortunate the majority of council refused to acknowledge that by not supporting the mayor’s motion.
Curoius what misinformation would that be
Ask them.
I believe you can add Mr. Barber to the 3 Amigos – so 3 Amigos + 1. Based on the resume which he presented and his Governmental experience when running I would have thought he would have been a more positive influential factor. Now we have to wait for the next election.
Given how the 3A’s + 1 voted against a very reasonable amendment, IMO, signifies that the drug situation, the encampment situation and the 310 Division situation will not be controlled and will only get worse during the remainder of this Council’s term as they will always vote for their agendas and not the betterment of Cobourg – which is wrong.
The decision makers can’t get along on anything – even the most simplest exercise of dividing up $30K in Grant budget funds becomes over thought and complicated. This should have been resolved with the initial presentations, with the Mayor and Council deciding.
And it’s a no brainer that any Grant funded by Cobourg taxpayer money should only go to Cobourg beneficiaries/groups tied specifically to Cobourg.
Interesting to look back to 2022 after Mr. Barber was newly elected. Here are some post election comments he made during a Northumberland News interview. “I’m certainly the new boy, there’s no doubt about that”. “Everyone else is politically experienced to some degree-certainly with the four incumbents coming back on”.
“It’s going to be a very interesting group to become a cohesive unit so to speak. I think we will all be looking to help each other out, and we’ll be showing our own leadership qualities, which will be required”.
“I have some (priorities) myself that I will be bringing forward and I will be there to support other members of council who have also some things that they’re going to want to bring forward. We will look for joint leadership to forge ahead in the next year or so”.
Such inspiring dialogue to look back on considering where he and this council are today.
I am not against community grants to non-County applicants. Cobourg “The Feel Good Town”. Seems totally appropriate to me they would offer such grants after review of the applying organization. Which brings me to the next point. Nicole Beatty, Randy Barber, Adam Bureau and Aaron Burchat voting against Mayor Cleveland’s amendment that GWC and Mothers’ Against Harm should be forever stricken from the list greatly angered me. I have found, even though I vote at every election, that some people are elected that have personal agendas, are able to ignore reality altogether. I can’t say how disgusted I am by their action. I can hardly wait until the next election! I believe seeing the turn out by the citizens of Cobourg to information community meetings they have cooked their goose.
We know who to vote for next election, or not vote for.
What a freaking disheartening and blind members of council we have. For those in council that support the addicts and encampment, along with the GW and moms stop the harm , I say is sickening. What a flipping mess this is. I agree with Cleveland on this one. GW does absolutely nothing to solve or help these addicts and homeless. They shouldn’t get any money from taxpayers. And Missy I say go to H**.
She’s the pusher of drugs and human rights crap that continue to be a issue. Also of the Friday night tents I might add Missy is front and center. Any council members approve and support this crap needs to go. Can we do non-confidential vote for municipal? Something has to give with this damn council. And don’t get me started on CPS and the lack of support for residents. They charge a resident for going to encampment to get his stolen stuff back but don’t charge those that steal and ruin private property. Ass backwards totally. Disgusting really
EXACTLY.
It’s amazing. The irony in a name like “Mom’s Stop The Harm” when they enable open drug use which is now leading to drug paraphernalia and use around local schools and parks…. come on… We need a group called “Dad’s stop the Bullsh*t”.
Lucas, Miriam & Brian, kudos
Agree, KUDOS TO LUCAS, MIRIAM AND BRIAN
To Councillor Beatty
I fully support no further funding to GWC and MSTH.
In fact I would take it one step further and no longer give our tax dollars to any organization. Idea- if we are faced with a tax hike over 2% all funding should stop that year. Yes that may mean cutting programs that we cannot afford.
The tax payers are not an endless ATM machine.
We the tax payers have rights that need to be protected. Laws must be abided by or society will breakdown.
I also fully support the councils new bylaws in regards to 310 Division.
You must be aware how many people are furious with the handling of the homeless situation in Cobourg. At all political levels.
Currently the future of Cobourg does not look very bright if the council does not show leadership for the majority. If any council members do have any political aspiration in the future. We have long memories come election day.
Please stand up for the law abiding taxpayers of Cobourg.
They know how to add but do not know how to subtract
Why wait for the next election ?
Let’s call for Councillor Beaty to step down NOW !
I think that Council should abolish the idea of “Community Grants” even if only to avoid the public pouring of scorn on some of the applicants.
Seriously the small amount of money allocated only demonstrates the unwillingness of Council to support community groups.
“Either go big or go home!” – The real origin of “Go big or Go Home” was as a product slogan for a motorcycle exhaust system. How apt considering the amount of hot air expelled on this topic!
Ben, why not make town owned meeting rooms available without cost to non-profit groups that benefit Cobourg residents? This is the essence of most requests for in-kind grants. Why must community groups meet at the Columbus Centre when town rooms are unused?
why not Venture 13 or the CCC they have plenty of empty space and meeting rooms
all the time Or do their staff not want to deal with it and the clean up
For what it’s worth, Venture 13 should be closed down…A waste of taxpayer money.
I agree they should abolish the Grant Process but for different reasons.
The wasted time and dollars spent on this Grant Process is absolutely shameful. Council is showing everybody out there how divisive and disorganized they are. On a $30k Grant process??!!#$
How in the world did this process morf into some MOU’s, some In Kind, some Grant, some Cash.
Now they’re talking about a 3rd Party to decide??? You can’t write this stuff.
Council is showing us all that they are WAY out of their pay grade.
Abolish the Grant Process.
“Council is showing us all that they are WAY out of their pay grade.”
Don’t the politicos always tell us if we pay them more, we will get brighter people?
Have Beatty, Bureau and Burchat lost the privilege to represent Cobourg taxpayers? They are out of step with the majority and are clearly not reading the room. This is a huge concern for those hardworking, over taxed residents who do not prescribe to a Liberal ideology of free drugs for addicts and social handouts for everyone. Can they be trusted to make sound decisions for taxpayers?
Rob:
The three amigos know that it is impossible for us to terminate their role as Councilors other than by a regular election process. What a pity. They have descended below the bottom of the barrel in terms of specializing in being drug addict enablers versus Cobourg taxpayer supporters. Hopefully, during the next election there will be lots of social media postings condemning their candidacy.
Then what will it take to hold a “special election” ? You can impeach a President, so !!!!!
To the best of my knowledge, it is not possible to recall a political office in Canada.
It is possible in Alberta, and there is movement towards the same in Ontario. There have been many issues with councilors and mayors across Canada, and the electorate are tired of being “stuck” with them for a full term.
I stand corrected.
Since the majority of the populous do not vote, the issues should be placed on placards to wave in front of City Hall saying, “If you don’t mind watching your Tax Dollars wasted and Cobourg turning into a Dump, Vote for Beatty, Bureau and Burchart”.
PARDON?
Can Council please stop squabbling about Community Grants and pass a by-law prohibiting daytime camping at the homeless encampment on King Street East? And why should “staff” be the ones to choose grants? That’s what I expect my Council members to do.
Why is Miriam our only Councillor who consistently works to represent the interests of Cobourg residents?
It is absolutely amazing to me that the others are so oblivious to what is happening around them, and how discontent their constituents are right now!
Suzanne Seguin …..where are you ?
… too bad her name did not start with an “A” – like Aeguin – she would have been
first on the ballot and soundly elected by the “well informed Cobourg electorate”…..
Sonya makes a great point Beatty is pushing through with her own agenda. She ignores the taxpayer. Check her website site.
I looked at her website earlier today, and IMO your point in regards to “councilors profiting from the homeless situation” is well worth looking into.
It is not clear how much the various community groups rely on the generosity of council with these grants. The amounts awarded seem small. I feel Council’s efforts could be better spent elsewhere. A legitimate question is why do the groups not apply to County Council as many support all county residents.
I fully support the mayor’s amendment to not give money to GWC and Moms Against the Harm. These groups are entirely to blame for the situation Cobourg is in today. As the Northumberland Tiny Homes were turned down the town of Cobourg has been held hostage, with the 3 locations of the squatters being carefully selected and the TweakEasy group in full swing here. Check GWC website where they provide mobile harm reduction supplies. This group has zero qualifications to be involved in any of this. Nicole Beatty has been involved and is friends with the tiny homes, harm reduction and GWC groups. She must declare a conflict of interest and decline to vote on this issue. Normalizing illegal drug use, harm reduction and safe supply are why Cobourg is where it is. Stay strong council and keep the bylaw in place for 310 Division.
I agree with you Re: Beatty yet she had the audacity to say she was “deeply offended” to Mutton’s objections, and pretended that she did not know why Mutton’s points were relevant to the discussion. It is relevant because the majority of taxpayers do not support these organizations’ efforts to support/enable the “campers”, and since we are the ones who pay high taxes our sentiments should be considered by the people who represent us. As Mutton tried to articulate, there are now more people being hurt by allowing the campers to remain than there are people being hurt by their own addictions, and need.
Beatty knows she’ll be gone in the next election. Either she’s incredibly stupid or she really is turning a blind eye to the horrible situation her and her friends created in Cobourg. Beatty is clearly not doing what she was elected to do. She is pushing through with her own agenda. The hell with the majority of citizens safety or needs.
Mutton, Cleveland and Darling please don’t back down. The other four will be gone next election. We don’t want them. We don’t need them.
I hope you’re right, but the track record of the voters doesn’t exactly support your declaration here.
Why do you think the Deputy Mayor will be gone? Why wouldn’t she run for Mayor? That’s the common pathway for Cobourg Council. Nicole, Adam and Aaron behave no differently than they have always behaved. This was being talked about during the last election. There were other candidates. The same people were re-elected. They do have their last names going for them – Bs are at the beginning of the alphabet, so at the top of the ballot. We don’t want or need them, but we pay them more than ever. This electorate tends to pick names they are familiar with. Memory of behaviour seems to dwindle when it’s time to fill out our ballots. It’s maddening.
We could randomize the ballots, but that would require council support and why would those (the majority) with the top-of-the-sheet names (Beatty, Bureau, Burchat, Barber) ever support that?
I really hope you are right Sonya!!
Cobourg taxpayer, many agree with you. If anybody thinks normalizing illegal drug use is a good idea I suggest they read about what is happening in BC. Despite proponents siting research supporting a safe drug supply it is not real research. The safe drug supply ends up reducing the cost of street drugs creating more addicts and more overdoses. GWC, Missy, the moms group and Nicole Beatty would be helping addicts if they were trying to get them off drugs. There is no way taxpayer money should be helping to normalize drugs or supporting addicts lifestyle.
Kevin, there in lies the rub…..the misguided efforts of enablers have absolutely no interest in assisting these folks to become well. It gives a cover of benevolence to accept everyone where they are ( the new phrasing for addicted) because increased funding is available for this effort and often granted giving a perception of a worthy cause. A facility of refuge and medical intervention would make gains toward helping those struggling and provide employment….now that’s a worthy effort