Coughlin was conducting a flag ceremony outside Simcoe County council chamber on Feb. 25, and invited the other members of the council to take part in it.

She said Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw questioned her on why he should attend, asking whether was planning to dance on the pole.

Coughlin initially told Barrie Compass that “as this is now before the County of Simcoe’s Integrity Commissioner and the Ontario Ombudsman, I do not have a comment at this time.”

She recently changed her mind after an anonymous email about the episode was sent to most members of Simcoe County council, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other regional media outlets.

Now she is coming publicly about it, demanding an apology from Greenlaw.

“When I suggested to Mayor Greenlaw and Oro-Medonte Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie that we should be there, Mayor Greenlaw responded by asking if I planned to dance on the pole for them,” she recalled.

“I told Mayor Greenlaw, ‘I’m going to step away from that,’ and I left the chamber, choosing not to take part in the photo.”

Following the exchange, she said she immediately went to the office of the warden and the county’s chief administrative officer, where she felt “safe and supported.”

Simcoe County Warden Basil Clarke later stated that while he was aware of the incident, he had not been present when it occurred.

Coughlin said she later called Greenlaw and asked him to apologize publicly because she felt it was her duty to hold him responsible.

“He told me he needed time to think about it,” she said.

After their phone call, she met with him in person, and he agreed to give a general apology based on her suggestion.

“I told him he didn’t have to say who it was for or what exactly he said, but he needed to apologize to that person and the council for his words,” she explained. “Since he made the comment in the council chamber, I felt it was right for him to apologize there too.”

Coughlin said Greenlaw was supposed to give the public apology at the March 11 county council meeting. Barrie Compass was present but the apology never happened.

When asked, Greenlaw said he had no comment and proceeded to ask the Barrie Compass about its sources, without denying the incident.

This is another incident of a problem municipalities face often: a councillor misbehaves, but the municipality has no legal mechanism in place to hold them accountable.

Municipalities across Ontario have said they lack disciplinary mechanisms to deal with misconduct by elected officials. The current maximum penalty is only at a 90-day suspension of pay.

Last year, Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Paul Calandra introduced legislation that would increase penalties for local elected officials found guilty of serious misconduct, including removal from office.

The bill was tabled at the last day the legislature was seating before adjourning for the holidays last December – and was shelved indefinitely when Doug Ford called an early election this February.

If passed, it would create a province-wide code of conduct for councillors and municipal staff.

At the time, the government said Calandra’s bill, dubbed the Municipal Accountability Act, was built on recommendations from Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake, which he delivered to Premier Doug Ford’s office in September.

Councillors found guilty of serious misconduct could face removal and disqualification from office for four years, besides being subject to an investigation and approval process by municipal and provincial integrity commissioners.

On top of that, municipalities would be required to publicly disclose integrity commissioner contact details, annual reports, and maintain a centralized database of completed inquiries.

The government plans to consult with municipal stakeholders before the proposed regulations come into effect for the 2026 council term.

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The incident occurred after county clerks began broadcasting the live feed from the video conference prematurely. Without realizing he was on air, Warden Basil Clarke warned other participants, “I’ve got you on the big screen, but you’ll get a good view up my nose every time I have to look up at it. So, I apologize for that.”

“Maybe the premier would love to see it,” replied Severn Mayor Mike Burkett.

“Wait a minute – he doesn’t know where we are,” added Severn Deputy Mayor Judith Cox. “Aren’t we a region?”

“Well, I’ll have to go to him, unfortunately,” said Clarke before Burkett could ask, “We’re not live, are we?”

“No,” Clarke said, with undue confidence just as Midland Mayor Bill Gordon quipped: “The tint must be too dark on [the premier’s] SUV when he’s heading up to the cottage.”

The comments appeared to reference ones made by the premier during a recent press scrum. On Friday, Ford chastised Simcoe council members for voting to raise their own salaries by 167 per cent.

In the same speech, the premier also referred to the county as a “region” and questioned its value as a legislative body.

“I don’t even know why we have the region — but [that’s neither] here nor there,” the premier told reporters.

The decision to raise salaries from $17,000 to $47,700 in 2027 was ratified by the council on the basis of a recommendation from its governance committee. The group concluded that unless its members received more compensation, it would not be able to attract younger and less established candidates to run for election.

For context, according to 2024 budgets, a regional neighbouring municipality currently compensates their councillors $68,000 per year and another smaller Ontario County compensates councillors $47,000 per year, while also balancing time in their local municipalities. Ontario MPPs make a base salary of $116,000 and MPs make more than $200,000, working fulltime.

According to Gordon, who responded to a request for comment, the statements about the premier were not meant to be taken seriously.

“I have no doubt Premier Ford knows about Simcoe County as we are the host of the largest automotive investment in history, and he and his team know all about Honda, Alliston and the County of Simcoe.”

He added that the premier’s own statements should also be taken with a pinch of salt. “I took his comments as venting frustrations about questionable spending by some school boards and the compensation change our council just approved[.]

Gordon, who along with Cox and several other members voted against the pay rise, also added that several of his own constituents had written to to express their anger at the move him despite his opposition to it. “However, that decision has been made by council and we collectively support our decisions, even ones we voted against.”

The mayor added that it seemed unlikely Ford would allow his feathers to be ruffled. “‘He seems to have a good sense of humour and loves to go off script and speak off the cuff.”

Clarke also responded to a request for comment. According to a statement provided to the Barrie Compass, the warden described the back-and-forth about the premier as evidence of the “passion and dedication” the politicians had for their county and communities.

“I’d like to apologize on behalf of our council for the remarks. While light-hearted, our council is committed to setting the bar high for ourselves as community leaders. As mayors and deputy mayors of our local municipalities, we know how valuable our regional services, programs and investments are to our communities, our residents and our partnerships with the province.”

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“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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