Township mayor, deputy stepping up fight to stop annexation

'Oro-Medonte cannot be the party that subsidizes another municipality for their lack of funds,' says Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie

Newmarkettoday.ca
Jan. 15, 2023
Wayne Doyle

Oro-Medonte Township Mayor Randy Greenlaw and Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie are so adamant to have their side of the Barrie annexation story told to the province’s standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy, they’re travelling to Ajax next week to tell it.

“We are actively preparing for our presentation,” Lavoie said at the township’s regular council meeting on Wednesday.

Lavoie was tight-lipped about the final contents of the presentation, but did allow it may include information that came to light during a town-hall event at the Parkview Community Centre in Barrie on Monday night.

According to Lavoie, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall told the Parkview audience Barrie’s proposed boundary expansion into Oro-Medonte and Springwater townships was based, in part, on the simple fact that Barrie didn't have the money to expand to the south.

Nuttall’s media representative, Natasha Halikas, said that is only partially accurate and provided Nuttall’s speaking notes for greater context.

“When it comes to development of industrial land in the south versus north, it’s not either or, it's both," he said, according to his notes provided to BradfordToday and InnisfilToday. "The City of Barrie will be pursuing both avenues, but doesn’t have the necessary funds in the budget to expand servicing in the south, therefore development in the north is the most viable option for immediate progress and will continue to seek new opportunities for future expansions in the south."

Lavoie said it was unrealistic, and unfair, for any municipality to expect another municipality to pay for its growth by giving up its land. He said it was especially troubling in this case because Barrie already owns the land they need.

“Ultimately, Oro-Medonte cannot be the party that subsidizes another municipality for their lack of funds to be able to undertake the development they need to take to reach the lands they already own,” Lavoie said. “And those lands are already zoned for the purpose of which they want to annex a neighbouring municipality.

“That’s the thrust of the message we will be delivering,” he added.

Oro-Medonte applied to make a submission to the province’s standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy so they could provide the committee with the township’s position on the City of Barrie’s land annexation proposal, which Nuttall shared with the committee during the committee’s Nov. 6 stop in Barrie.

The township’s application was accepted, so Greenlaw and Lavoie will be presenting their case on Tuesday, Jan. 16 in Ajax. Simcoe County Warden Basil Clarke will address the same committee the following day in Vaughan.

“I don’t feel, and neither does the deputy mayor, that the deal we’ve been pitched is a win-win from our perspective,” Greenlaw said. “We have to do what’s best for our residents, not just today but years into the future.

“I don’t think what’s been proposed represents responsible and good planning and it’s not the best sustainable solution,” he added. “That’s what we will be telling the committee.”