Outgoing councillors honoured during final Barrie city council meeting

Two familiar faces took their final bow at Barrie city council.

Councillors Clare Riepma and Ann-Marie Kungl were honoured Nov. 4 during their final council meeting after deciding not to seek re-election in the 2026 municipal election.

Riepma represented Ward 1 for two terms, first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Kungl was first elected in a 2020 Ward 3 byelection following Doug Shipley’s departure from council after he was elected MP for Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte. She was re-elected to a full term in 2022.

Both councillors reflected on their years of public service and thanked their fellow councillors, city staff and residents.

For Riepma, leaving council was a sentimental moment.

“It’s been a great opportunity and frankly, it’s been an opportunity for a lifetime,” he said.

“If the dream has to work, the team has to work, and I’ve really appreciated all of you around this table and working together to accomplish things. Thanks to all the staff who have answered my questions and comments so thoughtfully all the time.”

“You are far more than colleagues over these years – you’ve all become friends as well,” he added.

Riepma also offered his support to Pauline Stevenson, who won the Ward 1 seat in the municipal election.

Kungl also used her final meeting to reflect on what public service has meant to her.

“Serving you has been a privilege and a true joy, and it has been the purest form of what I believe in, which is service above self,” she said.

“When we invest in a city with pride in that belief, we create spaces of inclusion, belonging, and mattering.”

Kungl highlighted the progress council made working as a team and with community partners and other levels of government.

“We have made great progress this term in hand with Team Barrie,” she said.

“Our service partners, our provincial and federal counterparts, and to my council colleagues, thank you for the debate, the collaboration, and our shared pride and commitment to building a city that is resilient and thriving. I wish you equal parts tenacity and kindness in the next term, and to my family, thank you for sharing me with the city.”

With Stevenson elected in Ward 1, Mayor Alex Nuttall was re-elected to a second term. All other incumbents were also re-elected, including Coun. Amy Courser who was elected in Ward 3 after Ward 4 was moved and redrawn in Barrie’s south-east side. Former councillor Arif Khan was elected to the new Ward 4.

The next Barrie council will be sworn in Nov. 18.