Month: September 2021

Wasaga councillors begin 2021 budget discussions

Wasaga Beach councillors have taken their first tentative steps into the debate on how to spend the taxpayers’ money in 2021.

At their Oct. 1 committee of the whole session, councillors received their first draft of the 2021 municipal budget.

In its first round, municipal staff estimate a tax rate increase of 3.6 per cent, which would equate to an increase on the municipal portion of the tax bill of $5.89 per month on a residential property assessed at $350,000.

Councillors will have a chance to dive deeper into the numbers on Oct. 22. The second draft is expected Nov. 12, in a meeting that will include a presentation and public meeting on the schedule for rates and fees.

A third draft, if necessary, would be reviewed by council on Dec. 3, with a public meeting on the municipality’s 2021 spending plans on Dec. 15.

It’s expected the 2021 budget would be approved by council on Dec. 22.

Spending in operations and on capital would increase by nearly $20 million over last year, to $94.4 million. A significant portion of the $52.5 million of the 2021 capital budget — about $23.6 million — would be dedicated to the start of construction of the new twin pad arena and library project, slated to be built on a River Road West site.

Another nearly $14 million would be spent on water, wastewater, and stormwater improvements, and $8.4 million on roads and bridges.

Treasurer Jocelyn Lee said there were several factors driving the increase in the $41.9-million operating budget, including staff benefits, cost-of-living increases, and wages increases, as a result of staff moving up the salary grid.

The numbers do not include any new hires. Lee said staff would be laying out its hiring plans for 2021 to council at a future meeting.

Other items in the first draft of the budget include $1.5 million for a possible partnership with the Simcoe County District School Board on the proposed elementary school in the Sunnidale Trails project; $40,000 for an affordable-housing strategy; and $2.3 million for new and replacement vehicles.

Cavana Ridge in Severn offers slice of serenity in challenging times

When began turning customers away due to an overabundance of business, owners Joanne and Lee Johnston knew the time had come to grow to better meet the rising demand.

The local couple have done just that with the recent opening of Cavana Ridge in a repurposed building that boasts double the floor space.

“Because of how we reconfigured the nature of the setup of this business, it has allowed us to triple the business opportunity,” Lee Johnston told Simcoe.com.

Formerly based out of a century home on Mississauga Street West, the local operation has relocated to a rural site on Burnside Line in Severn Township.

An existing building that previously housed a water-testing business underwent extensive renovations and an expansion that saw it transformed into the picture of luxury the couple had envisioned.

Designed by Madison Taylor with a Parisian/Mediterranean flair and old-world influences, the new spa and salon sports contoured windows, archways, gold accents, and high-end finishes of marble and stone.

Bringing this oasis of serenity to fruition was not cheap, or easy – all told, the project rang in at approximately $4 million, including the renovation and property purchase.

“The fact that we did this whole thing during a pandemic was incredibly stressful and nerve wracking,” said Johnston, who praises family and friends for their support. “We are just happy we are now open.”

While the pandemic has presented its share of hurdles – forcing a months-long shutdown at the original Orillia location, even as construction was underway on the new salon and spa – the couple is realizing something of a silver lining in all of this upheaval.

Clients who pre-pandemic might have indulged in a cruise or other vacation getaway are increasingly booking what Johnston refers to as “authentic spa” services.

“Facial treatments, full body massage, body therapies – things to feel relaxed and something that is perceived as a real treat,” he added.

The Johnstons have doubled the business’s staffing levels to meet demand and now employ approximately 34 people.

“I still have the small-business mentality, but certainly the business itself is growing,” Lee said.

Cavana Ridge is located at .

For more information, visit

LIVE VIDEO: Ontario Premier Doug Ford provides daily update on COVID-19 October 20

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.

Wearing a mask triggers flashbacks of rape. Woman says her refusal to wear one led to her being denied treatment in Ottawa hospital

Melanie Mills wore a face shield when she went to the Ottawa Hospital for a routine epidural to treat chronic pain in her lower back and legs.

Despite a posted policy specifically asking visitors to wear face masks during the , Mills had no problem getting into the hospital or making her way up to the neurology department for her appointment last August. But when the 58-year-old met her doctor, she says, he denied her the epidural unless she swapped her face shield for a mask. She struggled to explain why she couldn’t wear one, she says, but the doctor insisted and kept saying, “I don’t know what to tell you.”

The conversation frazzled Mills so much she couldn’t stop herself from telling the doctor exactly why she couldn’t wear a mask: that decades ago she was raped, her face pushed to the bed, and the feeling that she would suffocate remains so severe that her post-traumatic stress dampens every day of her life.

“I couldn’t think about this, talk about this, without crying,” says Mills of her interaction with the doctor, which she’s anxiously been replaying in the lead-up to her next scheduled appointment.

Face masks are one of the most visible symbols of the pandemic, proven to be one of the in curbing transmission rates even as they’ve become a individual freedoms. Debates still rage over whether businesses have the to unmasked customers. But even in places like Toronto that have adopted mandatory mask policies, those policies for people with medical conditions.

And yet, when it comes to underlying conditions, asthma is more likely to come to mind. Rape is not.

But sexual violence is common and women like Mills should not be put in a position where they have to defend their need for an accommodation, says Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, in London, Ont. “The automatic response should be, ‘OK, how can we help you?’”

Michaela Schreiter, a spokesperson for the Ottawa Hospital, said she couldn’t comment on specific cases, but noted that when people are unable to wear a mask “staff will work with the patient to evaluate all options and find a manageable alternative solution.” Variations of that policy are in place at major hospitals across the province, including the University Health Network in Toronto and Hamilton General Hospital.

Walker notes that with help, sexual assault survivors might be able to cope, but for Mills “to have to defend to a complete stranger why she’s not able to wear a mask because of that… [it] can do great damage to that woman’s psychological and emotional health.”

Given that there’s no indication people are faking accommodation needs to avoid a mask, Walker says health-care providers should be taking women like Mills at face value when they say they need it and make a new plan. In the U.K., a sexual assault survivor whose PTSD is similarly triggered by having her mouth and nose covered, is advocating for clearly labelled that people could wear in public to avoid having to repeatedly justify why they aren’t wearing a mask.

Mills knows masks work and she knows face shields don’t provide equal protection. Indeed, numerous studies so far indicate face shields are not as effective as masks in preventing droplet transmission, although as a stopgap measure in cases where a person’s underlying medical condition makes mask-wearing impossible.

After being turned away at the hospital in August, Mills, who lives in Lanark County outside of Ottawa, received an alternative pain treatment from a local doctor, but says it’s “maybe 40 per cent as effective” to treat the spinal stenosis she’s had for 22 years.

Mills doesn’t work because of her disability, which requires her to use a cane, and a pain flare-up sometimes confines her to a wheelchair. The epidural offered at the Ottawa Hospital, which , typically provides pain relief within a few days that can last for months at a time.

When she is feeling well, Mills spends as much time as she can helping with community projects, everything from disability advocacy to food security and women’s issues, especially sexual violence. She says she was raped by someone she had previously been in a relationship with and that her rapist never faced any repercussions.

Mills is supposed to go back to the Ottawa Hospital for the specialized treatment in December, but first wants assurances they’ll accommodate her.

After her August appointment, Mills sent an email to patient relations: “I cannot negotiate a mask,” she wrote. “If there is no other way, I will forego treatment.”

In response, a triage co-ordinator wrote back to apologize “for the added stress the situation caused [her]” and said the office would set up a meeting to speak further.

Mills says her three children are some of her fiercest advocates. Her daughter, Meghan Valvasori, responded on her behalf, saying that while she understood the safety considerations, she urged patient relations to advocate for those with mental health disabilities who need medical care.

“[My mother’s] trauma is rooted in feelings of helplessness and entrapment,” Valvasori wrote. “This trauma is triggered, as she also details below, in response to activities that restrict her breathing, involve her mouth or face, or — and with respect, I gently point this out to you — when a detailed description of her disability is described as ‘concerns’ and her response as ‘added stress.’”

That was more than two months ago and Mills says a meeting has yet to happen.

Jennifer Hollinshead, a clinical counsellor who works with victims of sexual assault at the practice she founded, , says health-care providers sometimes need a reminder that mental health is not a sidenote to physical health and putting people into positions where they feel they need to justify their trauma response can have ripple effects.

“It can worsen physical health outcomes because the person might not want to engage with the medical system,” says Hollinshead, who is based in Vancouver.

It’s a human rights issue full-stop, says Walker.

Broadly requiring people to wear masks for legitimate health reasons is not a human rights violation, according to Rosemary Parker, a spokesperson for the Ontario Human Rights Commission. However, she says that “unless it would amount to undue hardship based on cost or health and safety,” organizations have a duty to accommodate individuals who cannot wear masks because of a disability, be it physical, developmental or mental.

“An inability to use a mask or other equipment must not lead to automatic negative consequences such as complete denial of service,” Parker says.

Mills says her pain cuts into her sleep and limits how much she can do. She’s hoping she’ll be able to go back for an epidural next month, but she meant what she said in her email to the hospital: if they can’t accommodate her, she’ll stomach the pain.

“As a woman who has experienced a lifetime of trauma and a lifetime of being dismissed as not important… I had to fight really, really hard to make myself believe that I’m not worthless,” she says.

“[That doctor] immediately dismissed me and it put me right back down to that place.”

‘Don’t let your guard down’: Collingwood OPP says stay vigilant as scammers increase activity during COVID-19

Whether it’s telephone messages claiming to represent the CRA or a young person claiming to be a grandchild, fraudsters are continuing to try and scam people out of their money.

“This is still happening,” said OPP Cons. Martin Hachey. “Even though COVID has happened and a lot of things have changed, this hasn’t changed. Be aware, don’t let your guard down.”

Hachey said there are a host of scams ongoing that have fraudsters looking for victims.

The Prize Scam is one, where a prize has been won however ‘fees’ need to be paid for administration, shipping or for brokerage purposes. 

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam is another, where a caller advises the intended victim that they owe taxes to the CRA and must pay immediately via gift cards or cryptocurrency or face jail time.

The Tech Support scam sees the victim receive a warning that a virus has infected their computer and the scammer needs access to fix the problem. Then, they hack the computer, encrypt the hard drive and demand money, before releasing the files.

The Emergency or Grand Parent Scam sees the fraudster claiming to be a loved one who needs money to help them as they were involved in a crash, have been arrested, or need to return from a foreign country. 

Also, a romance scam recently saw a .

Hachey said residents should never give out personal information of any kind, including banking information, credit-card numbers or social-insurance numbers.

“They are very good at what they do,” he said. “Everything is a lie and that’s where tracking it is very difficult.”

The Canadian Anti-Fraud centre said the pandemic has led to more activity among scammers.

“Many Canadians are spending more time at home,” said Lisanne Roy Beauchamp, operations supervisor for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. “As a result, fraudsters have upped their attempts to contact potential victims by phone and online. A correlation can be made between Covid-19 frauds and overall reporting to date in 2020; however, we have noted peaks and valleys in reporting over the past five years.”

New COVID-19 cases at schools in Innisfil and Barrie

There are new cases of COVID-19 connected to schools in Barrie and Innisfil. And the caseload has increased at a public school in Barrie and a high school in Alliston. 

Bear Creek Secondary School has one case of COVID-19. There are no classrooms closed.

Nantyr Shores Secondary School in Innisfil reports one student case of COVID-19. One classroom is closed.

Cases of COVID-19 are increasing at these locations:

Steele Street Public School in Barrie now has three confirmed cases. One classroom is closed. The school remains open. 

Banting Memorial High School in Alliston has three cases of COVID-19. Three classrooms are closed.

These locations are reporting the same caseload as Tuesday (Dec. 1):

Eastview Secondary School in Barrie has one student case of COVID-19. There is one classroom closed. 

There are two students with COVID-19 connected to Innisdale Secondary School in Barrie. Two classrooms are closed.

An outbreak of the virus was declared at Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School in Angus on Nov. 15. The outbreak is active. There is one case of COVID-19. No classrooms are closed.

St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School in Barrie has confirmed one student case of COVID-19. One classroom is closed. The school is open.

One student at East Oro Public School in Oro-Medonte has confirmed positive for COVID-19. One classroom is closed.

Portage View Public School in Barrie has confirmed one case of COVID-19. The case involves a student. One classroom is closed.

Twin Lakes Secondary School in Orillia has one student case of COVID-19. One classroom is closed.

St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School in Barrie has one case of COVID-19. There are no classrooms closed. 

St. Paul’s Catholic School in Alliston has one student case of the virus. One classroom is closed. 

St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Barrie has seven cases. Five classrooms are closed. An outbreak was declared here on Nov. 23. The outbreak is active.

The Government of Ontario lists two cases of COVID-19 at the Simcoe County District School Board education centre in Midhurst. Two staff members have tested positive.

There is one case of COVID-19 at the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board office in Barrie. A staff member has tested positive for the virus. 

Reporter’s note: Simcoe.com can only report whether the case is a student or a teacher when the information is available on the province’s website. 

No Barrie, Innisfil GO Train service this weekend

Metrolinx is stopping GO Train service Nov. 28 and 29 along the Barrie line to do track improvements.

Instead, buses will be running to connect riders to all stops, except Downsview Park. Riders wishing to get to Downsview Park will have to use the TTC as an alternative.

These replacement GO buses will depart five to 15 minutes later than train times. If you are using PRESTO to pay for your ride, tap on the device inside the bus, not at a transit station machine.

For more information, or to see schedules, visit . You can also plan your route at .


City council approves new COVID-19 limits on bars, restaurants amid pandemic’s second wave

Council has unanimously passed new rules for Toronto during theas a second wave continues to concern officials.

The rules include reducing the number of people allowed in restaurants and bars at one time from 100 to 75 and requiring everyone visiting those places to provide contact information instead of just one person in the party as was previously the case. Table sizes both indoors and outdoors will also be reduced from 10 to six people.

The changes further limit eating and drinking establishments that are subject to provincial emergency orders, with Toronto cases making up more than half of the new daily cases in the province this week.

The vote, which saw little debate among members, follows as the number of new cases in the city neared 400 on Monday.

Restaurants and bars should also limit background music and TVs to no louder than normal conversations to avoid people having to shout to be heard, increasing the risk of virus transmission.

Other existing measures, including requirements for apartments and condos to provide hand sanitizer in building common areas, were extended to 2021.

Mayor John Tory also introduced additional measures ahead of the meeting that were approved by council.

Those included asking staff to “explore” how to support the restaurant industry with winter patios and asking the province to extend rules for liquor sales with takeout and delivery and to pause commercial evictions.

“I am committed to doing everything possible as a city government to help restaurants and other businesses that are hard hit by the public health measures, whatever they might be,” Tory said at a press conference ahead of the council meeting, adding he expected council to be united on new measures recommended by de Villa.

Coun. Joe Cressy, chair of the board of health, also had a successful motion to ask the medical officer of health to consider “any additional measures” required to prevent virus spread, including but not limited to restricting businesses, social gatherings and enhancing screening.

And Coun. Frances Nunziata, council’s speaker, asked staff responsible for enforcement to review existing resources and opportunities for reallocation and report to executive committee.

Meanwhile, the city announced Tuesday it would extend road closures under its popular into October to allow for social distancing for pedestrians and cyclists. That includes upcoming closures this weekend on Lake Shore Boulevard and Bayview Avenue.

The city also announced in a press release it would make changes to access to its 10 long-term-care homes, restricting outside visitors to those deemed “essential” — those visiting a person who is very ill or palliative — and essential caregivers who provide direct support to residents. Virtual visits will continue.

Earlier on Wednesday, council also endorsed an action plan and shelter strategy, asking the provincial and federal government to contribute to the building of 3,000 affordable rental and supportive homes in the next 24 months to address the housing crisis in the midst of the pandemic.

Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

‘We believe we’re in good shape’: Has COVID-19 affected Barrie’s more than $300M debt?

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.”

numbers graphic

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.

Federal health minister calls Toronto’s surging COVID-19 test positivity rates ‘very alarming.’ Ontario officials say they hadn’t seen the data

As federal health officials called surging in Toronto “very alarming” and cause for new public health measures, Ontario officials admitted they only saw the numbers Tuesday, after the Star obtained the provincial data and published it.

The province announced no new interventions Tuesday, however, pointing to existing efforts like mobile testing and advertising to increase awareness.

In four pockets of the city, the percentage of tests coming back positive is above 10 per cent, according to data obtained by the Star but not publicly released. In several other areas the rate is above seven per cent, and in two-thirds of the city it is above three per cent, a critical threshold set by public health authorities.

“It is an indication that more public health measures are needed and that there is uncontained community spread. It’s very alarming,” Patty Hajdu, federal health minister, said at a Tuesday news briefing when asked about the 10 per cent figure.

“Because of course, the report is around specific neighbourhoods in Toronto, but we know that people don’t just stay in their neighbourhood. People move about and of course bring the virus with them.”

Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer of Canada, said that rates above five per cent are concerning, and the 10 per cent figure is “very worrisome, because that indicates there’s probably a high degree of community transmission and lots of unlinked cases. And so that means that public health authorities need to take whatever steps are necessary if they can identify high-risk events at certain settings that maybe need more intensive contact tracing, those things are certainly things to be looked at.

“So I think that 10 per cent is sort of, I would say, quite a serious level.”

At a Tuesday news briefing at Queen’s Park, officials agreed the data was concerning but highlighted steps already being taken, and announced no new public health measures.

Premier Doug Ford acknowledged seeing the data earlier in the day, and that he represents some of the harder-hit areas.

Three of the four areas with test positivity rates above 10 per cent are in Toronto’s northwest corner, which overlaps with the premier’s Etobicoke North riding. This part of the city was also by the first wave of the pandemic. Neighbourhoods in Toronto’s northwest corner have some of the highest proportions of low-income and racialized residents.

“Well, I did see the data,” Ford said Tuesday afternoon. “Probably about a couple hours ago, they showed me the data. And you’re 100 per cent correct. It’s in certain areas, one being in my area. And that’s where we have to focus on.

“We go out there, we put the mobile testing units up. We get more advertising within those communities. And if it’s … no matter if it’s the mainstream media or if it’s the ethnic media, we’re still pumping millions and millions of dollars to educate the people.”

Ontario’s associate medical officer of health, Dr. Barbara Yaffe, said she had not seen the data, but had read about it in the Star, which published it Monday night.

“I haven’t actually seen the data myself. I’ve read the article in the paper. That is very concerning. Those rates are high and those are neighbourhoods and areas that we already knew were at increased risk based on other data.”

In addition to mobile testing and advertising, Yaffe suggested that public health should prioritize contact tracing in these areas.

Experts said that more should have been done to support and gird these areas for the second wave, given that, as Yaffe acknowledges, the province knew they were at risk.

Dr. Andrew Boozary, a family physician in Toronto and executive director of Population Health and Social Medicine at University Health Network, said in a tweet: “I’m really concerned about us being able to take a data-driven (and) health equity approach when the first time policymakers see the data” is in the Star.

Kate Allen is a Toronto-based reporter covering science and technology for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: