It’s high time Barrie reconsiders its relationship with Simcoe County, according to a veteran city councillor.
“Is it worthwhile continuing as is, expanding [the relationship] or even just right-sizing it?” asks Sergio Morales, who has served as a councillor since 2014. “These are awkward conversations — but they’re also important ones to have.”
Like Orillia, Barrie is considered a separated city within Simcoe. It is responsible for its own public works projects and for handling most public services, including waste management, police and fire departments and local public transportation services. Simcoe oversees its ambulance services, homeless shelters, affordable housing units, museums and archives. It also funds the LINX regional transit system as well as the operation of the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport.
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“In the past, there was a strong value proposition for Barrie to be involved with Simcoe — and there might still be,” he says.
Morales is not alone in his concerns — though he may be the most vocal about them. At Barrie City Hall, public servants, political aides and even sitting councillors are more than willing to discuss their issues with the county — provided comments are not put on the record.
“It’s a dicey thing for us to talk about,” says one city official speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We’ve still got to work with [Simcoe] on a number of issues — and we don’t want to spoil the relationship.”
One area of contention comes from Barrie’s lack of representation on the county council. The body is composed of representatives – mayors and deputy mayors — from the region’s unseparated municipalities, though Orillia and Barrie are represented on committees related to services they receive.
The status quo also has its defenders, including Ramara Mayor and Simcoe County Warden Basil Clarke. According to a statement provided by county officials, he said “… [Simcoe County council] strongly believes that the economies of scale that result from regional county services are beneficial to all of our tax-payers, including [those] in Barrie and Orillia.”
“When there’s a larger tax base contributing, the taxation impact on everyone is smaller. By bringing these municipalities together, we create efficiencies that would not otherwise be possible for our municipalities and cities.”
George Cabral, deputy mayor of Springwater and a member of the county council, also believes many in Barrie are overlooking the economic benefits offered by the existing system.
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“In my opinion, the separated cities would be the ones to lose out if they left,” says Cabral. “Because of its size, the city, quite rightly, receives more services — so sometimes it feels things are actually slanted toward the larger urban areas.”
This year, the county earmarked $101 million for social housing, most of which will be spent in Barrie. Next year, work begins on a $217 million project to build housing and a social services hub on Rose St.
“The costs of these projects. . . . would greatly impact budgets and tax rates if the majority of the costs outside of provincial or federal funding. . . were the sole responsibility of one municipality or city,” Clarke said.
Cabral agrees that all civic officials must keep a close eye on service costs and consider if these could be more efficiently managed in house. “At the end of the day, it’s about what is the best value you can get for a particular service. . . . You have to consider what the cost is compared to what the municipality could afford on its own.”
“There are areas where we probably get more than our fair share and there are clear inefficiencies for Barrie’s taxpayer dollars,” says Morales. “This is about looking for what makes sense.”
One issue many politicians recognize is causing friction between the two levels of government is homelessness. Currently, Barrie officials estimate that 617 unhoused people are living in the city — far more than live in the rest of the county. Despite this, police must co-ordinate with Simcoe officials to find space at local shelters and begin the removal process.
“The county also understands that the chain-of-command is disruptive, especially when you have to do things in a time-sensitive manner,” Morales says. “Whenever you have to loop in another level of government, it takes time — time we don’t always have available.”
There is one area Cabral says Simcoe and Barrie work particularly well together — healthcare. The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre receives patients from across the region, many of them arriving in county ambulances.
The county chief also believes its paramedic services provide Barrie with significant cost savings. According to the regional government’s figures, the service costs Barrie taxpayers about half as much as it would cost if brought under civic control.
“This is a good example of [how sharing] resources, infrastructure and assets among a larger population, you get strong value and efficiencies in operations, service levels and costs,” Clarke said.
Given the current level of co-operation, Cabral struggles to imagine Barrie could make a clean break from the county without creating difficulties “When it comes to the regional hospital, which gets the majority of its funding from the province, where do you draw that line?”
The most obvious way for Barrie to alter its relationship with the county would be for it to leave — a move that would require the approval of the province. Whether Ontario’s government would back such a divorce is unclear — especially given its recent experiences with regional reorganizations.
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Last year, it announced plans to dissolve Peel Region before cancelling them. While the move was meant to save money, many municipal leaders protested on the grounds that it would lead to severe service disruptions as well as tax hikes.
According to Morales, the city would be wise to pursue a subtler course. “This isn’t as simple as asking, ‘do we stay or do we go?’ he says. “That’s an emotional question and this issue doesn’t need emotion — we need to think about figuring out a better deal.”
One such course would involve negotiating directly with Simcoe in 2028. By statute, cities are able to renegotiate service agreement with counties every five years, though, according to Clarke, municipalities are able to pursue concessions at other points as well. “Each year, the cities are able to participate and provide input into the county’s budget.”
Another approach would see the city make an appeal at the provincial level. If Barrie does pursue such a course, it would not be alone. Earlier this year, Bradford West Gwillimbury mayor James Leduc petitioned the provincial standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy for changes to be made to the county’s governance structure. He objected to the fact that Bradford West Gwillimbury, Innisfil and New Tecumseth provided more than a third of the county’s tax dollars yet were represented by less than a fifth of its councillors.
“Whatever we do, we have to get this right,” says Morales, who believes the county and city councils will face criticism for decisions made by the other until the relationship is redefined. “Residents only ever see one level of government.”
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