Barrie Mayor’s Office: 1) Barrie mayor in letter to premier invites him to see homeless encampments for himself; 2) ‘Report in coming weeks’ about speed cameras, says Barrie mayor

1) Barrie mayor in letter to premier invites him to see homeless encampments for himself

Courtesy Barrie360.com

By Ian MacLennan, September 16, 2025

In a 3-page letter to Premier Doug Ford, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall says the city has reached a “breaking point” due to the “growing number of homeless encampments.”

The letter posted Tuesday on the mayor’s Facebook page, invites the premier to visit Barrie and see the affected areas for himself.

Last week, Nuttall declared a state of emergency in the city in regards to homeless encampments.

In the letter, the mayor acknowledges homelessness is a complex issue.

“Like many municipalities across Ontario, we have been experiencing a rise in homelessness since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Nuttall writes. “These encampments have resulted in health and safety issues for our community, a negative impact on the environment and damage to municipal property.”

The mayor states there are 21 homeless encampments throughout the city with an estimated 650 homeless individuals. Nuttall, in his letter, goes on to say that a majority of them are not from Barrie or Simcoe County.

In the letter, Nuttall rhymes off incidents he says have occurred in Barrie in the last two months including a double homicide in an encampment on Victoria Street, an increase in tents along city streets, multiple fires being set, a tent found with drug money, drugs, multiple cross bows and a pistol, rampant drug use, and overdoses.

Nuttall also references high levels of E-coli in area streams leading from the Victoria Street encampment to beaches, human waste found in the city hall fountain, resulting in its closure, and defecation in doorways.

“We cannot face this crisis alone,” Nuttall wrote in his letter. “The City of Barrie is requesting the Government of Ontario strengthen the existing system of mandatory community-based and residential mental health care, and to expand service to treat those who have severe and debilitating addictions.”

The mayor suggests that because the County of Simcoe is responsible for the social services portfolio rather than Barrie, the city has not been able to manage or respond adequately to the problem of homelessness.

He also lays out for the premier what the state of emergency allows the city to do such as immediately test all waterways near or abutting encampments to understand how many waterways are being contaminated with human feces, resulting in incredibly high e-coli readings, remove encampments beginning with those that are closest to critical infrastructure and public spaces, and request the County of Simcoe to immediately open access to additional shelter throughout the county to allow for space to be available for the people living in these tents.

Two days after the mayor issued the state of emergency, an encampment of more than 20 tents was removed from the area of the courthouse on Mulcaster Street.

In an update last Friday from the county, it said outreach and HART of Simcoe County teams had engaged with 44 individuals at that encampment site, and of those, 36 had been successfully supported with accommodation and relocated to those spaces, while another eight individuals from the site declined offers of shelter spaces and chose to move out of the encampment enforcement area.

2) Premier Doug Ford wants municipalities to get rid of automated speed cameras (ASE) or else he will.

Courtesy Barrie360.com

By Ian MacLennan, September 16, 2025

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is urging the premier to reconsider his plan to get rid of ASE cameras, saying it will put pedestrians at risk.

In a letter last week to the premier, AMO said there is real evidence that the cameras improve road safety, including a July study from Sick Kids and Toronto Metropolitan University that found they reduced speeding by 45 per cent in Toronto.

At a special council meeting on Monday, Vaughan decided to end its ASE program. Instead, the municipality will focus on “traffic-calming measures” and other ways to reduce speed in areas like school zones, according to a news release from the City of Vaughan.

ASE cameras went live in Barrie in December 2023 at Big Bay Point Road and at Anne Street North.

In an email to Barrie 360 this week, Mayor Alex Nuttall said there were no changes to the ASE program.

“We’re currently in conversations and negotiations regarding the ASE cameras and will have an update to report in the coming weeks,” the email from the mayor stated.

The premier called ASE cameras a “cash grab,” and suggested that “big huge signs” and “big flashing lights” would more effectively deter speeding.

Barrie City Council, at a meeting on June 20, 2022, approved a motion to implement an ASE program. In 2017, Ontario authorized the use of ASE in municipalities to address ongoing issues with speeding in school zones and community safety zones.

Barrie has 27 community safety zones. According to the city’s website, community safety zones were identified for the ASE program based on data collected that shows areas where drivers regularly go over the posted speed limit.

City staff said in a report to council in May that the initial data analysis indicates that ASE cameras are functioning as intended to reduce vehicle speeds through areas where vulnerable road users are present.

Revenue collected from the ASE program since its launch is $1,246,684, according to the city, and operating costs are $711,000, which means a surplus of $535,684.

The city website explains how the funds are used:

The municipality uses the funds from the fine payments to offset the costs of the ASE program (cameras leases, signs, provincial offences officers, office, and miscellaneous expenses)

The victim fine surcharge portion is submitted to the province like any other ticket offence. The municipality retains any net fine revenue, after expenses.

If there is a surplus of revenue over expenses, these funds will be reinvested by the city back into the ASE program, other road safety, or traffic calming initiatives

Since July, ASE cameras in Barrie are located:

eastbound on Grove Street East near Maple Grove Public School

northbound Livingstone Street near Monsignor Clair Catholic Elementary School

eastbound Livingstone Street near West Bayfield Elementary School

westbound Rose Street near Barrie North Collegiate

According to the City of Barrie ASE pages, the cameras will remain at those four locations until January 2026.

with files from The Canadian Press