Time for Barrie to play Simcoe County's game

The boundary and servicing dispute between Barrie and Innisfil has dragged on long enough that our neighbours are rightly starting to voice their concern.

The problem is there is no one to make a binding decision between the two municipalities, never mind all the issues that are making up the whole argument. The provincial government would rather stay out of it and let us sort it out while Simcoe County can't say anything as they are simply observers to the separated City of Barrie and therefore cannot intervene. Perhaps that is where the problem lies, with Barrie and Orillia enjoying the status of "separated" from the rest of the county.

For the county to say that they need to create a growth plan is a joke when they have no jurisdiction over one area that they would attempt to project growth for. (They can) ask Barrie if it is OK that they grow by an estimated 41,500 people, but how can it be mandated?

The county, in order to be a successful and prosperous area, needs to be recombined and made whole again so that there is a governing body to directly control, mediate and ultimately decide disputes such as the one that is currently ongoing. If things don't go Innisfil's way in the long run, so be it, I will know that it is for the betterment of the whole region and that all municipalities had a say in the matter.

There is no way for the county to present itself to the rest of the province as viable place to prosper and settle, with a believable growth plan, and ability to handle its own affairs when it is fundamentally divided from the onset. The county needs to appeal to the provincial government to change the rules to return power where it is necessary and needed so that everyone can move forward as one and have the equal opportunities that the larger municipalities enjoy, while smaller ones suffer and are frankly repressed.

Robert Tulli

Innisfil