Premier Doug Ford urged municipalities in the Barrie area to work together to solve a dispute over a proposed municipal boundary expansion.
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall is pushing to expand his city's boundaries to bring more industrial land under its borders as part of an effort to spur economic growth. He says the city needs to expand because it only has 220 serviceable acres of employment land and that, without a border adjustment, more and more residents would need to commute outside of Barrie for work.
The municipalities Oro-Medonte and Springwater, which would both stand to lose land, are opposed to the move, pointing to concerns around the impact on residential communities from the proposed industrial development. Nuttall has offered to compensate the municipalities for agreeing to the expansion, but no agreement has been reached.