The mayor of Lambton Shores delivered a harsh assessment Wednesday at Lambton County council of a request for a five-year pause on loan payments by the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.

“As a banker looking at the balance sheet, I’d be one to say, ‘You’re bankrupt, insolvent, you can’t carry your debt load,’” Mayor Doug Cook, who worked in banking before becoming a business owner, said after Tom Strifler requested the loan payment pause on behalf of the research park’s board.

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“I struggle with it,” Cook said about the request to be considered by council during its 2026 budget session early next year. “At this point, I can’t see myself going to support five years of no payments,” he said.

The research park, which includes office space and labs in buildings located

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