No more shelter beds in Cobourg, Mayor says

Warming Space at 310 Division Street Cobourg. Northumberland 89.7 News File Photo.

By Cecilia Nasmith

Cobourg

At a special meeting of Cobourg council later this month, Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland will present a notice of motion calling on the county to halt the expansion of emergency shelter capacity in the town until shelter beds and services are equitably distributed across the county's other six municipalities.

At a special council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 25, Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland will present a notice of motion calling on Northumberland County to “halt the expansion of emergency shelter capacity in Cobourg.”

The motion the mayor will put forward calls for equitable distribution of emergency shelter beds and support services across all seven Northumberland municipalities.

It begins with a statement of the town's “long demonstrated leadership in supporting individuals experiencing homelessness by hosting the majority of emergency shelter beds and related support services within Northumberland County.” Nevertheless, it continued, “the concentration of emergency shelter services in Cobourg has placed a disproportionate burden on the town's resources, infrastructure and emergency services.”

The motion declares homelessness “a regional issue that requires a fair and equitable distribution of shelter beds and support services across all municipalities” - all of whom, it added, “have a shared responsibility to provide emergency shelter services and to support unhoused individuals in their own communities.”

Such a move, the motion continued, “would ensure that all communities contribute to addressing homelessness while alleviating pressure on any single municipality.”

The motion then calls on the county to establish no additional emergency shelter beds in the Town of Cobourg “until such time as shelter beds and related support services equitably distributed across all municipalities within the county.”

And until such equity is achieved, the motion says, council calls upon the county to halt the expansion of emergency shelter capacity in Cobourg.

This notice of motion is last on the agenda of the 1 p.m. special council meeting. It will be considered in open session, following the first part of the meeting held in closed session to consider a matter that qualifies for such treatment under the Municipal Act. Anyone tuning in to the live stream will see a Closed Session screen while this part of the meeting is in session, with the open-session portion beginning once that business is concluded.