Watch Premier Doug Ford’s daily COVID-19 update now.
Today, Ontario Premier Doug Ford makes an announcement in Toronto and responds to questions about his government’s response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic. He is joined by Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of education.
COVID-19 hasn’t added to the City of Barrie’s debt.
But the amount the municipality owes to lenders for major infrastructure projects will continue to hover above the $300-million mark for the foreseeable future, Barrie finance director Craig Millar said.
“We haven’t stopped anything on capital (projects) because of COVID-19,” he told Simcoe.com recently. “We’re still on plan to do what we forecasted. The COVID impact is really being viewed as an operational hit for this year and into next year. But long-term, we’re not seeing it impacting the debt levels we are currently carrying. If a year from now the situation turns for the worse, we’ll look at and potentially modify the capital plan. We believe we’re in good shape.”
The municipality projects a $2.3-million deficit this year due to revenue drop-off and other effects of the virus, though that number does not take into account nearly $9.2 million in funding received through the federal and provincial Safe Restart emergency program.
Barrie had $326 million in debt in late 2019. That number should dip to about $317 million by the end of 2020, before rising to $329 million — mostly due to money borrowed for Harvie Road bridge construction — next year.
That balance is costly. The city will pay $32.6 million toward debt servicing this year, with nearly $18.9 million coming from development-charge revenue. In total, only 62 per cent of the city’s annual debt payment goes toward the principal balance; the remainder covers interest.
Millar said 74 per cent of the debt is attributed to three projects — the city’s water treatment ($130 million) and wastewater pollution control ($55 million) plants and the Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus ($50 million).
“There are more needs on the capital side than we have money to fund,” he said. “We prudently manage debt so we don’t get ourselves into financial trouble.”
Mike Slinger, who once ran the Barrie Taxpayers Association, says the city’s debt means other key infrastructure projects — like road reconstruction or the building of new recreation centres — risk delay.
“In my 16 years in Barrie, community property owner associations have neglected to unify as ‘one voice’ to challenge past and present councils,” he said. “We property tax payers only have ourselves to blame for not monitoring and challenging councils that have created the unreasonable debt that is bogging down the city today.”
But Standard & Poor’s recently maintained the city’s ‘AA’ credit rating and noted the financial outlook for the municipality is “stable” over the next two years.
Standard credits the city’s cost-containment efforts, a diverse and healthy economy, growing workforce and strong operating balance for the rating.
“Although COVID-19 will be a temporary shock to Barrie, the city will proceed with its healthy growth rates and plans to diversify its economy once the effects of the pandemic subside,” Standard credit analyst Hamzah Saeed said.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Simcoe.com wanted to see whether a loss in revenue for the city due to COVID-19 would affect its debt.
Looking for solutions to keep his anti-aging clinic safe from COVID-19, an Orillia medical esthetician and his partner have become ambassadors in a Canadian-made portable air filtration system and they are working to bring the technology to other companies within their industry.
“We actually had clients who were a little scared to come in because of COVID and this is putting them at ease,” Ben Tiessen said.
Blade (a medical esthetician) and Ben Tiessen’s business, The Anti-Aging Clinic — at 43 Colborne St. W., in Orillia — is the first of its kind to use the Airborne Infection Isolation and Removal (AIIR) device by Care Health Meditech.
Care Health Meditech — based in Kelowna — has teamed up with researchers from the University of British Columbia to develop the AIIR device. Stephen Munro, managing partner of operations with Care Health Meditech, said AIIR isolates and eliminates airborne droplets and particles, like the COVID-19 virus. AIIR was originally designed for dental offices, Munro said.
The company has plans to expand AIIR. They are working with Interior Health Authority in British Columbia, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia on a device for operating and emergency rooms, Munro said. Care Health Meditech has received federal grants for the AIIR project, he added.
Munro said Care Health Meditech is doing this “out of a passion for public health.”
“Because of that, we made decisions that were good not just for public health, but good for the local economy,” he said, adding the research and development, manufacturing, workers and components are Canadian.
The Anti-Aging Clinic in Orillia paid about $4,000 for an original model.
Blade and Ben are on AIIR’s advisory board and have provided input on how the device could be altered to better serve their industry. A less expensive, more user-friendly model is coming out soon.
Asked why they are interested in getting involved in introducing the product to their market, Blade said: “Because ultimately, it’s all of us. It has to be everyone protecting everybody, or it’s not going to work.”
AIIR is just one of a series of COVID-19 safety protocols at The Anti-Aging Clinic.
The City of Toronto and the Ontario government are in a tussle … again. The fight is seemingly perpetual and it boils down to one big question: who gets to call the shots?
This time, it’s about control measures to slow the spread of the virus in the second wave. As caseloads surged in the fall across the GTA, Dr. Eileen De Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, called on to return Toronto to Stage 2 — closing indoor dining, bars, gyms and movie theatres. The Ontario government did eventually take that advice a full week later, but not before Premier Doug Ford publicly doubted Toronto Public Health’s data and another were recorded across Ontario.
This case is another instance of municipal-provincial tensions turned into public spats. In recent years, both sides have clashed over(under former Premier Kathleen Wynne) and infamously, the mid-provincial election in 2018 (under Premier Ford) that turned into a full-blown legal battle.
Each time, Toronto has been on the losing end with the province seemingly “bigfooting” the city on how it is run and what the province wants.
, city hall reporter for the Toronto Star, talks to Adrian Cheung about the push-and-pull relationship between City Hall and Queen’s Park, the powers Toronto actually has in controlling its fate and the case for “charter city” status for the economic recovery ahead.
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The Township of Tiny is taking a stand against racism.
On Nov. 30, council unanimously agreed that the municipality should make a public statement in support of inclusivity and against racism.
“I personally would like to see a public statement, but I think actions speak louder than words,” said Coun. Cindy Hastings. “We need to think about what we can do, opposed to just say. I think there are ways we can recognize those in our municipality who are maybe subject to racism.”
This summer, the township received an email from a concerned citizen who spotted a Confederate flag in the front window of a home at the corner of Oliver Drive and Fanella Road, just north of Balm Beach.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” wrote Reuben Hunter. “I am disgusted that this symbol of racism, white supremacy, and hatred toward minorities is being displayed in the front window for all to see. It is visual hate speech, and I was extremely offended simply by the sight of it.”
Hunter called for action and requested council ban the sale and display of the Confederate flag in the township.
Council briefly discussed the topic on July 6 and requested a staff report outlining the options the municipality could take.
Those options were presented to council on Nov. 30, along with the legal advice that Barriston Law had regarding the exact same issue.
“The township does not have jurisdiction to prohibit the flying of the Confederate flag, as this freedom of expression is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” wrote Sarah Hahn, a senior associate with Barriston. “A bylaw passed with the intention of limiting freedom of expression would be quashed by the court for being outside its jurisdiction and found invalid for being in conflict with the Charter.”
Based on this legal opinion, Tiny Township staff recommended that the municipality take the same course of action as Clearview Township and issue a public statement against racism. Staff will draft up a statement and present it to council at a future meeting.
