Innisfil deserves a chance to not become a Barrie suburb

Re: Servicing the 400 industrial corridor

I read with increasing anger and concern the Barrie Advance article regarding the collapse of boundary talks between Innisfil and Barrie on May 2nd. The Barrie Advance did a good job of deflecting what the issue was truly about, servicing the 400 industrial corridor called Innisfil Heights. At the centre of the argument was a proposal prepared by Innisfil that Barrie has considered too "costly" to the City and therefore unacceptable.

I am a resident of Innisfil who is tired of having property taxes increase yearly to cover costs that might otherwise be offset slightly if there was more of a business tax base in our town, not to mention jobs for the soon-to-be arriving new homeowners.

The content of the proposal cannot be released as the parties involved do not want to debate the sensitive issue in the media, something of a joke seeing as it has been made by the media the centre of attention.

At this point, with the talks having officially ended, with no official date of resuming talks, I think it is the responsibility of all sides to fully disclose all information instead of continuing to hide it, especially now with the threat of provincial sanctions.

Innisfil Mayor Brian Jackson telephoned me Thursday morning after my initial attack on Town Hall in an attempt to gain information. Jackson told me that only Innisfil had a prepared proposal on the table, no opening suggestions from Barrie.

The provincial representatives noted and appreciated the organized and detailed proposal. However, Barrie, according to Jackson, had no formal proposal, seemingly singularly bent on expanding their borders south instead of considering changes they could make within their borders to accomplish future goals. City of Barrie Councillor John Brassard contacted me later the same day and explained that Barrie uses two documents to dictate their side of the talks; the Ontario Places to Grow Act, and the Inter Governmental Action Plan (IGAP).

This second document was paid for in-part by the separate cities of Barrie and Orillia, as well as the provincial government. Therefore the contents will contain an obvious bias, regardless of what independent contractor is used.

The province's Places to Grow Act dictates that Barrie is one of the hot spots for growth. IGAP basically states that the province wants complete and sustainable communities, which Barrie is, hence, they help fund the study. Brassard went on to carefully explain that Barrie is targeted to grow to a population of 235 000 by the year 2031, but the provincial government estimates are based on area alone, not the quality of life that would eventually arise out of such a population. "Intensification", or the number of people in a given area, can only be pushed so high to reach the provincial expectations.

Barrie also only has so much water and sewer services to offer before possibly jeopardizing the needs of its own residents and then having to switch to a more "costly" method as quoted.

So, after all that, my opinion is simply this, Barrie wants its cake and eat it too. They want land to expand; so that their residents do not suffer, and increase their business tax base. Then any water and sewer upgrades can be additionally funded.

Innisfil loses land, is losing money that is not being generated by developing the land sooner, and gives up forever money that would be generated by businesses created within the new Barrie borders, unless there are conditions for this in the proposal, but we do not get to know.

But Brassard assured me that Georgian Downs would never be an expectation or condition from Barrie.

He also mentioned that, historically, Barrie has grown beyond its borders into other townships in the past; giving the impression that it is only a matter of time. Brassard said that Barrie council is ready to simply wait a couple of weeks to let things cool off before attempting to resume talks.

Innisfil deserves a chance to become sustainable community of its own instead of becoming a suburb to Barrie. Innisfil is also an area of considerable growth, as we all have seen with the increasing subdivisions, but seems to fall short of provincial recognition with IGAP. Ironically, Brassard told me that Barrie's population has more than doubled in the last 10 years. If Innisfil were given 10 years, what could we accomplish instead of being steamrolled over by a larger, bullying city to the north?

Whoever voted to allow the City of Barrie the right to separate from the rest of Simcoe County may have sealed the fate of the Township of Innisfil. It will be up to the province to decide whether we grow or die as there is no higher County Council to appeal to.

The residents of Innisfil need careful direction and information about the impact Barrie is having on our community, and what our impact is on their city. Without the text of the proposal available to everyone, public opinion as to whether Barrie's claims have merit cannot be given. According to the province, Barrie has its mandate, grow within your borders to 235 000.

The next step is; help out the county which you are surrounded by and the population who spend money your city. It almost sounds like Barrie is of a feudal society where no one will help another and each city is for itself.

Stop hiding behind IGAP and recognize that Innisfil is also a growing community that will only increase business with Barrie, but just not within Barrie.

The only bright spark that came out of my discussions was with Mayor Jackson. He also informed me that the province earlier had told Simcoe County Council to go ahead with any infrastructure development applications for grants, a hopeful sign that the breakdown in talks will not impact areas of Innisfil.

With Barrie being a separated city, perhaps they may face the threatened provincial sanctions, but with a population of 128 000 and an established business tax base, it is not the same critical concern.

R Tulli, Innisfil