By Cecilia Nasmith

After many back-and-forths between the Town of Cobourg and the County of Northumberland over Cobourg's Emergency Care Establishment Bylaw and its effect on the county's plans to open an emergency-shelter facility at 310 Division St., a lawyer finally addressed the impasse at county council's April meeting.

Emma Blanchard, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais, spoke on behalf of Transition House and the impact of the bylaw on its operations – not only in the prospective larger location at 310 Division St. but also in its current location at nearby 10 Chapel St.

Urging the county to take action regarding the impact of this bylaw, Blanchard said it “significantly impacts Transition House's ability to continue to provide services and accommodation to people at risk or experiencing homelessness. 

“We are urging county council to take steps to work with the town to get the bylaw repealed or, at a minimum, defer its effective date so serious discussion can occur about the appropriate revisions or amendments to ensure the continuation of services to this very vulnerable population.”

Transition House was established in 1999 through a collaboration of community organizations in response to a growing homelessness issue. A quarter-century later, that demographic has continued to grow throughout Canada – to the point that many municipalities have declared states of emergency.
The current location offers a 22-bed shelter open 24/7 to offer services aimed at helping people transition to more stable and permanent accommodations, with 13 employees and numerous volunteers.

“This is the only provider of these services offered in the county,” Blanchard stated.

Funding is largely provincial, administered through the county, whose Community and Social Services Department works to ensure “safe, efficient and responsible delivery of services.” It operates through annual service agreements negotiated between the county and Transition House, which include “robust terms of service, reporting and oversight. This is not a situation where Transition House is operating this service on its own.”

Cobourg's new bylaw was brought in Feb. 28, to take effect a mere four weeks later on March 28.

“There are very extensive application requirements, and that includes investigation of Transition House by town staff, requirement that Transition House deliver affidavits to the town, and delivery of an aggressive volume of material. Some of these materials effectively impose new service requirements on operators of shelters.”

Blanchard offered examples of requirements that might be considered onerous, such as the requirement that the shelter provide 24/7 mobile security within a 500-metre radius of the actual facility to address issues involving shelter occupants when they are within this area. There must be a maintenance plan that includes addressing litter, waste and debris within that same 500-metre radius. Basically, she summed up, these requirements entail significant work done in the community well beyond the shelter property.

There must be a code of conduct that addresses mitigation of noise and nuisance concerns. And operators must carry insurance coverage that includes the town as an additional insured party.

When it comes to enforcement, she added, town employees have a great deal of discretion in the actions they may take. And, as currently written, the bylaw exposes employees, volunteers, board members and anyone participating in the operation to prosecution or penalties for noncompliance.

“These are extensive requirements not currently covered in the arrangements between Transition House and the county, and Transition House is not currently in a position to meet the licensing and application process.”

Though Transition House had worked hard to comply with applicable bylaws, Blanchard said, they have been unable to complete current requirements in their application for a license. And though the move to 310 Division St. is a concern, she added, these provisions also apply to Transition House in its current location.

Transition House is a charitable organization, she argued, and new provisions would take significant shares of their budget away from providing vital services and into meeting requirements unilaterally imposed by the town.

“We request urgent action on the part of the county to engage with the town, and try to deal with this before the impacts on Transition House start to seriously affect the provision of homelessness services to the members of the county,” she said.

“Transition House just wants to keep doing the good work it has been doing for decades. There are very serious concerns about being able to continue to operate.”

Warden Brian Ostrander said that Northumberland's Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Moore “has been endeavouring to reach out to the town to do exactly that.”

Though the matter was part of in-camera discussions following the open session, commentary was entirely absent otherwise. 

Transition House Executive Director Ike Nwibe said he had nothing to add, and correspondence was accepted without discussion - a March 26 letter from Blanchard's firm to the Town of Cobourg and the April 2 reply from the town's solicitors, Warden Ostrander's letter to the town of March 8 with a formal request to delay the implementation date of the bylaw and the town's April 5 reply that the request had been received for information.