Campaign
The key points that Towndale ran on during his mayoral election included increasing affordable housing,attracting medical professionals to the city,accessibility for the handicapped,police reforms,green initiatives and further cooperation with the Ontario provincial and Canadian federal governments. [6] Additionally,he supported balancing the city's budget,running the city's public transit on Sundays,and supporting the creation of an arts centre despite its $4,500,000–6,500,000 price tag. [2] On election night of October 24 he defeated incumbent interim mayor Glen Grant in the election with 5,169 votes to Grant's 4,088 with a 28.6% turnout and was sworn in as mayor on November 15. [1] [7] [8] [9] Towndale's financial statements reported spending $11,559.27 and declaring a deficit of $1,158.04 on the campaign,making his run for mayor the third largest spend in the municipal election campaign. [10] [11]
Mayor
During his swearing in ceremony Towndale reaffirmed his campaign promises and that he is "eager to begin work on addressing housing issues including homelessness,to begin work on attracting more doctors and to improve internal processes like permitting." [12] In early June 2023,Towndale's government faced a serious challenge as 40% of the Cornwall Police Service went on leave,including its police chief Shawna Spowart,over concerns that the police service board wasn't addressing issues of leadership problems in the service. Just a week before Spowart went on leave,the chairman of the Cornwall police service board,Michel Payette,resigned. The sudden unavailability of a large portion of the force has left them "ham-strung" and struggling to perform effective enforcement. [13] Towndale has also been a leading voice in town hall meetings. Towndale has also been supportive of a Great Wolf Resorts being built in Cornwall,that he argues will "change the face of Eastern Ontario" and will be "the premier tourist attractions not only in this area,but in the entire province." the 40 acre property is expected to cost 430 million USD to complete and will have an estimated 670,000 guests annually. [14]
Mayor Towndale's greatest challenge during his tenure would be his public dispute with Immigration,Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). As the Canadian government was in the process of renegotiating the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement to close the Roxham Road loophole,Towndale stated that Cornwall "needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers." The IRCC has sent some 900 asylum seekers to the city of 90,000 and Towndale and the city council argues that due to the lack of proper facilities,and the lack of warning from the IRCC has meant most of the seekers are living in hotel rooms for free,which further strains the city's economy. [15] Towndale stated that the cost of housing the migrants was 50% of total city spending,and called on the IRCC to improve communication with local officials. [16] Towndale stated that he only learned about the agreement to house the asylum seekers in hotels through "unofficial channels" and that he and the city was given "Zero notice,consultation or resources" from the IRCC. Mayor Towndale has worked with Bernadette Clement,former mayor of Cornwall and current Canadian Senator to broach the problem to the federal government. Towndale concluded that "At the end,it's the asylum claimants that will suffer," and that "They'll be left in limbo. They won't have any support,at all." [17] Cornwall is not alone on the issue,some 39,000 asylum seekers have crossed the border at Roxham road,with the IRCC simply busing them to cities in the region,and leaving local officials to not only find a solution for housing,but also footing the bill. [18]
Canada