Municipal Elections are taking place in October. As one of the main media outlets in the City of Cornwall, The Seeker is always eager to getting to know the candidates. As such, we send each candidate a questionnaire requesting for them to give their position on the most pressing issues near and dear to you, our readers. During the upcoming weeks, we will be publishing the answers from each candidate who choses to respond. Every candidate was sent 11 questions, penned by our own, Jason Setnyk. They can chose to answer as many as they want. We will post them online as they come in. Here are Todd Bennet’s Questions and Answers. Click on any question to reveal the answer.
1 – Please give us a brief biography / tell the readers about yourself.
(e.g., work/family/education/experience)
I am currently one of your 10 city councillors as well as the assistant store manager at Ontario’s first Farm Boy store right here in Cornwall. My wife and I have been married for 33 years with two amazing kids and 2 equally amazing grandkids.
Since 2010 I have been involved in several committees of council including Economic Development, the Waterfront Committee and the Arts and Culture Committee. I am also the council appointee to the Board of Directors of The River Institute Board, the Joint Liaison Committee with our partners from the United Counties of SD & G, as well as sitting on the Board of Directors of the Cornwall and Akwesasne Portlands Ownership Group.
2 – If you were on Council the previous term, tell us about your accomplishments during the past four years. If you were not on City Council this last term, please tell us why you are running and what you hope to accomplish.
In my first year on council, I was able to bring forward my idea of “Pop Up Shops” and I was thrilled with the support it received from my fellow councillors, administration and most importantly form the businesses and the residents of Cornwall that have made use of them. The city has since purchased more containers and they are being used by Tourism and for bike rentals at the marina.
I also saw my idea of an “Urban” campground make its way into the new Waterfront Plan and is currently going through the proper steps to hopefully make this a reality in the next couple of years starting with the possible beach in Guindon Park.
I was also happy to work with my colleagues to bring changes to the way RFPs are brought forward. Any RFP that creates a significant change in services we deliver or is over a pre-set spending limit must come to council before it goes out to the bidding process. This gives council the opportunity to seek changes to an RFP before it goes out, because once it goes out, we have no choice but to accept the winning bids and no changes are permitted at that point.
My work with our partners and neighbors of Akwesasne on The Portlands has been very rewarding. Not just the work we are doing, but the relationships we are building. The partnership we have as owners of the Portlands is unique and may very well be the only partnership of its kind in Canada. The possibilities are unlimited for what we can do not only at the Portlands, but also in showing the rest of the country what great things can be accomplished by forging good healthy relationships with our indigenous neighbors.
3 – With rents skyrocketing, what can City Council in Cornwall do to prevent renovictions like those at Cumberland Gardens that have impacted many in our community?
I have been paying very close attention to the Cumberland Gardens situation and I have learned a lot about “renovictions”. The most frustrating thing was learning that there isn’t much a municipality can do to prevent this practise. This falls under provincial responsibilities. I tried to have a motion passed to limit how many evictions can happen when a developer wants to renovate a large apartment complex like Cumberland Gardens but was advised by our legal representatives that we are overreaching on a provincial jurisdiction and would be subject to expensive legal challenges.
So that leaves me, and council for that matter limited to advocating to our MPP and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to close the loopholes that allow this immoral business practise to exist. I will continue to do that.
4 – In 2018, the City of Cornwall purchased the old Bank of Montreal building in our downtown for $450,000 as the future home of Cornwall’s Art Centre. In 2019, Council heard a report that renovations would cost an additional $4 to $6 million dollars. In addition to the fundraising already being done, will you support some public tax dollars going towards a Cornwall Art Centre, or should the municipality pause any additional financial support?
No Answer
5 – Post-pandemic, what can Council do to improve Economic Development for the city and support existing businesses?
No Answer
6 – What are your thoughts on the McConnell Medical Clinic closure? Although health care is a provincial issue, is there anything Council can do to attract more doctors and nurses to our city?
No Answer
7 – While climate change is a global issue, what can the City do locally to keep our neighborhoods cool and protect natural resources like the St. Lawrence River?
No Answer
8 – Many City businesses are open on Sundays, and many events happen on Sundays. Do you support Sunday service for Cornwall Transit?
No Answer
9 – What can we do to improve social services in Cornwall? Examples include but are not limited to Cornwall Transit, childcare spaces, or LTR spaces.
No Answer
10 – Do you support keeping tax increases to a bare minimum? If yes, where would the savings come from, and would you support reducing some services? If you do not support keeping tax increases to a minimum, explain your reasoning why.
No Answer
11 – How can candidates contact you? Please provide a phone number and/or email and/or one website (or one social media link).
About the Author
Given that councilors and candidates will be in charge of the public purse i.e. our money, shouldn’t questions be more pertinent to their financial acumen… how about asking how much personal debt they’re carrying, not the asset backed house, car, or even education debt. Ask about the consumer debt, high interest credit cards, lines of credit, payday loans — the kind of debt that clearly shows recklessness and a lack of discipline and basic common sense.