‘As a result of absence of a print newspaper in Barrie, residents have reported a communication hole between town and its residents,’ Nuttall says
iPolitics, a information web site with tenuous ties to Mayor Alex Nuttall, desires the Metropolis of Barrie’s assist in launching a neighborhood information outlet, together with a print publication.
“We invite you to assist bringing the Barrie Compass to your metropolis, the place we are able to work collectively to maintain your residents nicely knowledgeable and engaged,” says a Might 29 memo on metropolis council’s circulation record. “We’re looking for town’s help in launching an inclusive neighborhood information outlet that may attempt to attach residents throughout (Barrie) and preserve them knowledgeable.”
iPolitics writer Laura Pennell’s title is on the underside of the memo.
On Thursday, Nuttall mentioned this stems from considerations raised by town’s seniors and the accessibility advisory committee.
“As a result of absence of a print newspaper in Barrie, residents have reported a communication hole between town and its residents,” he mentioned. “With a good portion of Barrie’s ageing inhabitants preferring print media over digital sources, there was an figuring out want for accessible and tangible data.
“Going ahead, council won’t be concerned in any negotiations with iPolitics,” Nuttall added. “As an alternative, metropolis employees will present content material to iPolitics as an promoting instrument to advertise metropolis information, program updates and initiatives, aiming to handle the scarcity of native print media in our neighborhood.”
The mayor mentioned town can be procuring paid promoting, much like promoting finished in different information shops all through the neighborhood courting again to 2017, equivalent to BarrieToday and the Barrie Advance.
The Metropolis of Barrie’s This Week in Barrie portal ran on BarrieToday from Oct. 18, 2023 till Jan. 24, 2024.
This isn’t, nevertheless, the primary time iPolitics has been concerned in Barrie politics.
In January, a ballot by Mainstreet Analysis indicated 73 per cent of Barrie-area residents assist town having enough land provide to draw new investments by main trade, whereas 77 per cent supported permitting native producers to broaden domestically, slightly than transfer elsewhere.
The ballot was commissioned by iPolitics, an Ottawa-based information outlet.
Town issued a information launch with the headline, ‘New ballot reveals majority of Barrie-area residents assist boundary enlargement.’
This occurred after Nuttall appeared earlier than the province’s standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural coverage, relating to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s examine on regional governance, on Nov. 6, 2023, to make the case for Barrie’s boundary enlargement for industrial growth — plans for a mixed 2,200 hectares in each Springwater and Oro-Medonte townships.
Barrie might present for 20,000 industrial, manufacturing and warehousing jobs in the course of the subsequent 20 years if it might work out a deal to make use of neighbouring land, Nuttall had mentioned.
However by mid-November, after Nuttall additionally made displays to each township councils, Springwater council voted unanimously to terminate discussions with Barrie concerning the metropolis’s proposal for boundary changes and determined to ship a letter to the ministry saying talks on the matter have been completed. In the meantime, Oro-Medonte council had mentioned it was not snug with Barrie’s request for land.
Talks have since continued with provincial involvement, however there was no decision to the standoff.
Nuttall has ties to Brian Storseth, at one time the co-owner of iPolitics. Each are former Conservative MPs — Nuttall for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, from 2015 to 2019, and Storseth for Alberta’s Westlock-St. Paul using, from 2006 to 2015.
Storseth’s spouse, Amel, labored as an assistant to Nuttall whereas he was a member of Parliament.
Nuttall is co-founder of Offering Devices for Excellence (PIE) Schooling, whereas Storseth is co-founder of Progress for Psychological Well being, which has ties to PIE, within the annual charitable distribution of full faculty backpacks to underprivileged youths, as not too long ago as Aug. 11, 2023.
Nuttall was requested if he has a battle of curiosity with iPolitics.
“I’ve consulted with the integrity commissioner (Suzanne Craig) to make sure there have been no points related along with your questions,” he mentioned. “She has confirmed that there are none.”
Storseth couldn’t be reached for remark, nor might or not it’s confirmed he’s nonetheless with iPolitics.
Town’s finance and accountable governance committee accepted a movement Wednesday night time that Entry Barrie, town’s communications arm, pursue a pilot undertaking till June 2025 with iPolitics to incorporate a This Week in Barrie commercial within the Barrie Compass to advertise metropolis packages, companies and initiatives. Metropolis employees would report again to the committee by Might 2025, offering particulars on the pilot undertaking.
Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson additionally mentioned he’s heard, by means of town’s seniors and accessibility advisory committee, that Barrie residents are having bother understanding what’s occurring within the metropolis.
“So, we’re looking for a approach to have a print kind that might be circulated on a necessity foundation to see if we are able to attain extra folks and have them linked and have interaction with town,” he mentioned.
Councillors have been roundly criticized for town’s communication to Barrie residents about plans for an artificial turf, multi-purpose youth sports activities area, and parade floor for the Sea Cadets and Navy League, to be positioned east of Army Heritage Park alongside the waterfront.
A few hundred folks rallied in opposition to the sector plan, and the method that led to it, on Wednesday night outdoors Barrie Metropolis Corridor.
Council was additionally criticized for passing a direct movement Might 17, 2023, on persistent homelessness and public security measures, permitting little or no alternative for public suggestions on its controversial measures, which embody restrictions on panhandling. Direct motions bypass town’s committee course of, taking issues straight to metropolis council, and, on this case, with no discover.
Rebecca James-Reid, government director of Entry Barrie, mentioned Wednesday her division would report again on the extent of the pilot undertaking’s success, after which council might resolve to finish it subsequent June or proceed it.
James-Reid mentioned iPolitics is to have a weekly digital publication, the Barrie Compass.
“Then, as soon as a month, the publication can be printed and distributed at metropolis amenities … grocery shops, that type of factor, so folks might decide them up inside the neighborhood,” she mentioned.
Town has $82,000 in its communications finances for This Week in Barrie, which might be used to pay for the publication.
“So, that cash remains to be in our finances. We’re not proposing any extra cash,” mentioned James-Reid, who mentioned Wednesday she doesn’t know the way a lot the publication would value, what its promoting charges can be or the dimensions of the printed publication.
