Tag: Provincial Politics

Provincial Grant supports Police CCTV expansion

John Draper

D’Arcy street was closed around noon on Friday while an announcement was made outside the Venture 13 facility.  The Provincial Government announced a grant of $200,000 to Cobourg Police to implement CCTV for their “Next Generation Community Safety Strategy”.  The grant covers 50% of the cost of the project which will integrate CCTV cameras installed by the Town and private businesses plus some new ones.  The location of some of the new ones will not be disclosed.  The idea is to improve public safety since if criminals know they will be caught, they are less likely to offend.  The announcement was made by Solicitor General Sylvia Jones with supporting remarks by Mayor John Henderson, MPP David Piccini, Police Services Board… Read complete articleProvincial Grant supports Police CCTV expansion

Province and Feds Help Fund Transit

John Draper

People ask why do we have full size buses and not small ones or even ones like those used in Okotoks?  (See link below to earlier article). Well I don’t have an answer but if spending Council money is the problem, then the Federal and Provincial Governments are helping big time to buy replacements for existing fleets.  Today, MPP David Piccini announced the support being provided to Cobourg and Port Hope via the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.  Cobourg’s 2020 budget included $160K (contingent on a grant) to replace a Wheels bus, $230K in 2021 for one regular bus and $460K in 2022 to replace two more regular buses – total $850K.  The grants for Cobourg are $496,182 from the… Read complete articleProvince and Feds Help Fund Transit

Ed’s House – Official Opening

John Draper

On Thursday, September 3, Northumberland’s Hospice (Ed’s House) was officially opened by Minister of Health and Deputy Premier Christine Elliott.  There were about 70 people gathered outside the new building on Ontario Street to witness the event.  As well as capital to build the facility, operating costs are ongoing and the Province has committed to pay this for the six new beds – Christine said that the Government is expanding palliative care. As well as the Minister, many who had helped make it happen were also there – see list below.  Hamilton Mayor Bill Cane commented that this was “an amazing collaborative effort”. All speakers at the event thanked the team who made it happen: Fundraising was better than goal… Read complete articleEd’s House – Official Opening

Affordable Housing gets Funding

John Draper

For some time, the County has been planning an expansion of affordable housing at their Elgin Park development and on Thursday July 23, $5.7M funding for it was announced through the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative (COCHI) – that’s a joint Federal/Provincial initiative.  The announcement was made by Steve Clark, (Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing) and Adam Vaughan (Federal MP & Parliamentary Secretary) – see photos below.  There are currently 18 units at the development in 9 duplexes and when complete there will be 40 units in 8 two storey buildings of 4 plexes and 6 plexes including a shared green space with a playground and recreational area.  The new money will fund 28 of the new units, all… Read complete articleAffordable Housing gets Funding

Premier Ford Announces more NHH funding

John Draper

On Thursday morning, Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott joined MPP David Piccini to announce new funding for Northumberland Hills Hospital.  As well as incremental funding to help with the Covid-19 crisis, they also said that increases announced last year would be annualized providing a much needed stability in funding. Premier Ford said that “Previous governments have ignored rural hospitals – but we are not ignoring them”.   Ford also described MPP Piccini as being very persistent in asking for funding in his Riding  – and it has paid off.  Northumberland Hills Hospital CEO Linda Davis said that the Hospital was “grateful to the Government for listening.”  As you can see from the photos below, the announcement was outside… Read complete articlePremier Ford Announces more NHH funding

Town Hall Meeting – mostly about the Beach

John Draper

Communication is good and in these difficult times the only way to have a Town Hall meeting is online.  Using Zoom, MPP David Piccini and Mayor John Henderson co-hosted a meeting tonight for Cobourg residents to ask anything about Covid-19.  I counted 20 questions and up to 71 participants and, no surprise, most questions (12) were about the Beach closure with the majority in favour of closure or if not, wanted assurance that social distancing could be enforced.  There were also questions about wearing of masks and a couple of other items – see below.  Mayor Henderson referred most questions to the decision making that will come out of the Council meeting on June 29.  I did not hear any… Read complete articleTown Hall Meeting – mostly about the Beach

Nurses Campaign for Equity

John Draper

In late 2019, the Provincial Government passed a law that limited salary increases for workers in the Public sector to 1% per year for three years.   Not too terrible (more below) but it exempted Firefighters and Police officers which are predominantly male while Nurses who are predominantly female are not exempt.  Given their role in the current fight against the pandemic, Nurses are not happy and the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) LOCAL 105 decided to have a day of action.  They campaigned outside the Port Hope Office of MPP David Piccini and their spokesperson Sarah Cowin had a meeting with David.  I counted about 16 demonstrators although some were representing Gay Pride – I’m not sure what the connection is…. Read complete articleNurses Campaign for Equity

Province Opens Up – Partially

John Draper

Today, Premier Ford announced that starting this Friday, June 12, the Province will loosen Covid-19 restrictions. Social gatherings of 10 are now permitted instead of 5 and now allowed to open will be Churches (subject to limits) restaurants (outdoor patios only), hair salons (subject to limits), swimming pools and more (details below).  But this does not apply to all of Ontario; a notable exception is the GTA plus a few other locations.  The HKPR District Health Unit which includes Cobourg is included in the loosened rules.  In all cases physical distancing apply. This is in line with the Province’s plan to move to Stage 2 on a regional basis (see link below for a description of Stage 2). As we’ve… Read complete articleProvince Opens Up – Partially

MPP David Piccini briefs Cobourg Council

John Draper

At the regular Council meeting on Monday, MPP David Piccini reported on what was happening with a number of Provincial programs and how they affected Cobourg.  As shown on the recently approved budget, the Province provides close to $1M of Cobourg’s revenue – much of that is jointly with the Federal Government which provides another $1.6M.  The big items are Cobourg’s request for funding for Harbour repairs plus the ongoing hope of funding for the Victoria Square Project which has been on hold for a few years pending such funding.  David also reported on a number of smaller grants plus he spoke briefly about the Provincial Project to improve MPAC which provides all property assessments in the Province – these… Read complete articleMPP David Piccini briefs Cobourg Council

GO Bus Service to Cobourg

John Draper

For at least 15 years, local residents have been lobbying for an extension of the Go Bus/Train service to Port Hope and Cobourg (see links below).  In 2015, Mayors from Clarington, Port Hope, Cobourg and others got together to commission a study and subsequently the Province announced that the train would be extended to Bowmanville.  But the hope of lobbyists is that the Go Bus service which currently terminates in Newcastle would continue on to Port Hope and Cobourg’s Northumberland Mall. To do this, they must first convince Metrolinx that there is a viable business case. This recently stepped into high gear when Northumberland County added a goal to its current Strategic Plan to “Advocate for extension of GO Transit… Read complete articleGO Bus Service to Cobourg