Politics

Federal, provincial and municipal

Recent Posts

Concerns over Transition House not NIMBYism, says neighbourhood coalition rep

By: |

A group residents and business owners calling themselves the Good Neighbour Coalition Cobourg launched a campaign to address concerns related to Transition House, the only emergency shelter for homeless people in Northumberland County. Since then, the group has made a public presentation to council. And, it has been active in advocating for a resolution to the issues they raise, including increased and recurring problems with public drug use, people sleeping outdoors, verbal abuse and intimidation, disruptions day and night including physical altercations, theft, and break-ins. With me in studio Alyson King, a representative of the group Good Neighbours Coalition Cobourg. Welcome, Alyson. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Housing, Politics

County reaches milestone on path toward affordable housing strategy

By: |

Affordable housing has sat at the forefront of many municipal politicians for more than the past year. Since the campaign and election of councils just over a year ago, it is a priority for many. In some cases, there are concrete steps being taken. Meanwhile, in the background, Northumberland County council and staff have toiled away on this issue for nearly a decade, slowly developing the framework and putting into place the pieces of an affordable housing strategy. From the Housing First initiative to a regular homeless people’s survey to an overarching Affordable Housing Strategy, the groundwork was being laid. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Housing, Politics

Transition House seeks dialogue to resolve concerns in neighbourhood, board members say

By: |

A group residents and business owners calling themselves the Good Neighbour Coalition Cobourg has started campaign to address concerns related to Transition House, the only emergency shelter for homeless people in Northumberland County. Two of the group’s representatives, Alyson King and Grace Lovekin, appeared before Cobourg council Monday night to make their case. They told councillors since Transition House reopened just over a year ago, “the neighbourhood has experienced increased and recurring problems with public drug use, people sleeping outdoors, verbal abuse and intimidation, disruptions day and night including physical altercations, theft, and break-ins. While Transition House may not be the “cause” of these problems, it is clearly associated with them as the problems did not occur at this level until it reopened”. With me in the studio are Taylor Nelson, a member of the Board of Directors for Transition House and Marsha Jones, chair of the Board of Directors for Transition House. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Community, Politics

New provincial animal welfare system impacts local humane society, says general manager

By: |

Since July, the Northumberland Humane Society in Port Hope took on the duties of animal welfare investigation and enforcement. With that announcement came a timeline. The province said there was some new legislation in the pipeline and the situation would be reviewed in the new year. Well, this week the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act 2019 (notice the acronym is PAWS.) was announced by the solicitor general. It means there will be some changes coming in January. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Community, Politics

Hamilton Township ratepayers seek 2020 budget input, says citizen’s council

By: |

A group of concerned citizens came together in 2015 in an effort to take a more positive approach to engaging with the Hamilton Township council. There was a long history of citizen activism in the township dating back to the 1990s that was inspired mostly by the amalgamation talks of the day. In between then and more recently, the group would be activated around a single burning issue, according to some. This is what the citizen’s council wanted to change. So for the past few years, it has looked to impact the relationship between the citizens and the council. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Politics

Pre-election analysis of the national and local campaigns with politico Ben Burd

By: |

Pundits are the modern version of an ancient shaman. They rhetorically dance around rattling on in a language all their own in an effort to see predict the future. Ben Burd certainly qualifies as a local pundit. He is a former municipal councillor and candidate for the NDP in Northumberland at both the provincial and federal levels. He is also the person behind one of the first local blogs in the county, The Burd Report, which he wrote for more than 20 years. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Federal Election 2019, Politics

PPC candidate dives deep into party’s policy around racism, environment, free speech and more

By: |

For candidates running for the People’s Party of Canada, the CBC news story published yesterday surely drew a reaction from both supporters and detractors. A People’s Party of Canada candidate in Saskatoon is coming under fire for sharing a cartoon photo on Twitter that depicts NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wearing a turban with a bomb on it. The candidate said he did not realize it was a bomb, saying it appeared to look like a toque. However, the executive director for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network said the cartoon is racist. The network is monitoring all candidates from all parties during the federal election. Well, today’s guest will hopefully shine some light on this and other issues related to the People’s Party of Canada. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Federal Election 2019, Politics

Candidate Mallory Macdonald outlines challenges NDP face in riding, across country

By: |

To local NDP supports in Northumberland-Peterborough South, the IPOS poll released on Wednesday must have been music to their ears. While the party has polled at about 15 percent over the last few weeks, the leader of the party, Jagmeet Singh, watched as his personal appeal numbers took a dramatic jump. When people were asked which leader would make the best prime minister, 14 percent named Singh. That is up from 10 percent only a week ago. In another poll,  on Friday morning, his personal numbers were up by six points. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Federal Election 2019, Politics

Green candidate explains balance between saving jobs and fighting climate change

By: |

Green Party candidate Jeff Wheeldon talks at length about the impact of his party’s platform to fight climate change, while maintaining a strong economy. He does not back off of the predicted job losses in the oil and gas sector, along with several other sectors of the economy, saying other jobs will be created. He also talks about a basic income program for the country, among other policies. Wheeldon speaks directly to the revelation regarding Justin Trudeau’s use of blackface, its influence on the national election campaign and its effect locally. Please listen. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Federal Election 2019, Politics

Liberal incumbent Rudd stands up for Prime Minister, SNC Lavalin, carbon tax, climate change and more

By: |

 

Northumberland Incumbent Liberal candidate Kim Rudd defends the Prime Minister regarding his absence during the first televised debate for City TV/Macleans. She also provides her views on the SNC Lavalin affair, the Trans Mountain pipeline, carbon tax, climate change, precarious jobs in our county, along with anecdotes about her early life and her life-long activism. Please take the time to listen. As part of the ongoing efforts of Northumberland 89.7 FM and Consider This, we continue our series of candidate interviews for this all-important job of being a member of parliament for our riding. Originally aired: Sept. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Federal Election 2019, Politics