Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall has a clear list of priorities for the next federal government, no matter who wins the next election.
First on the list is housing. Mayor Nuttall wants to make sure Barrie continues receiving federal support to build more affordable homes.
“We want to continue working with the administration on housing and ensuring that we are getting dollars to market to allow for affordable units to be built and to spur adequate housing in our community,” he said.
While the city has already secured funding from the province, Nuttall said he believes the federal government also needs to step up, especially when it comes to addressing homelessness.
One major issue is encampments.
“The province has stepped up with substantial funding for the City of Barrie, going forward with both the HART hubs and the encampment removal funding. But I think there’s an opportunity for the federal government to be at the table on that as well,” he said.
The federal government has struck deals with other cities on this issue, but Barrie has been left out.
Beyond housing, trade is another key concern. The mayor wants the federal government to take a stronger approach to diversifying trade beyond the United States.
“How our municipality falls in line with the approach to tariffs south of the border is critical. We need to be working with the federal and provincial governments to ensure our municipality is onside, to maximize the response, and hopefully get us out of this trade war,” he said.
He also called for reviving the Energy East pipeline project and expanding Canada’s trade opportunities. “Get Energy East done and set up better trading opportunities, both to the east and west off of our shorelines to diversify away from the U.S. That’ll only serve our national interests better in the long term,” he added.
The Energy East was a proposed oil pipeline in Canada, that would have delivered oil from Western Canada and North Western United States to Eastern Canada. It was cancelled in 2017 and has been a hot issue in the federal election.
The fentanyl crisis is also top of mind. Nuttall said he is frustrated that Canada only took action after pressure from the United States, saying that the country should have been proactive in addressing the crisis long ago to protect Canadian lives, not just to respond to U.S. concerns about drug trafficking.
“I called for this in 2017 and 2018, and it still hadn’t been done until now. And it took U.S. pressure for Canada to get real about fentanyl in order for us to move forward. I don’t think that should have happened.”
“I want to protect Canadians. I want to protect Ontarians. I want to protect residents of the City of Barrie. It shouldn’t take another country to put pressure on us to take this seriously. We should have been taking this seriously from the beginning,” he added.
Asked about federal policies he would like to see changed, Nuttall said he is critical of the carbon tax, calling it a “massive failure.” He also believes the current government has not done enough to strengthen Canada’s energy sector and expand trade opportunities.
“The shutting down of energy, the looking at opportunities in Hudson Bay to ship during the summer months through Churchill — these things need to be developed further. Unfortunately, they were kiboshed under the current administration. It doesn’t mean that it’s too late. It just means we’ve got to get cracking.”
On working with the federal government, Nuttall acknowledged that there have been successes, particularly in housing, but said there is still more to be done. “We have realized cooperation on the housing front, but on the encampment front, we haven’t been able to realize those opportunities yet,” he said.
He said that while he has not had direct discussions with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about these issues, he hopes to find ways to push them forward now.
“I understand Marco Mendicino was named the chief of staff to the prime minister [Mark Carney.] Marco’s someone I’ve worked with in the past when he was a newly minted minister and secretary. So, I think that there are opportunities for us to work together, but we haven’t been able to realize those yet.”
Looking ahead, Nuttall hopes that no matter who forms the next federal government, they will take these concerns seriously.
“I hope that we will see a government that is going to defend our sovereignty, not just by speaking loudly, but by making the long-term decisions and investments that are needed to be able to maintain our sovereignty and choose our own future as Canadians.”
