When does a community group become a lobbyist, and when is it not?
That is the question two Barrie groups — Friends of Allandale Station Park and the Southshore Nature Park task force — face today after Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson said they should become part of the city’s lobbyist registry.
“It’s just a point of clarity and just to keep everything above board, if you don’t mind,” Thomson said to Mayor Alex Nuttall during Wednesday’s city council meeting. “Just to make sure everything is done in (compliance) with our new lobbyist registry, can you (City Clerk Wendy Cooke) maybe reach out to these groups so they register ... because they belong to organizations.”
Thomson said members of these two groups had communicated with council members on recent matters.
These two groups — residents, neighbours, volunteers — have been involved with council decisions not to build a synthetic multi-use sports field in Allandale Station Park and how much grass is cut along Lakeshore Drive for special events parking.
Barrie’s lobbyist registry is an online tool that documents instances of substantive communication — such as telephone calls, meetings or emails — from a lobbyist to a city employee and/or member(s) of city council, in a centralized database that can be accessed and searched by the public and interested stakeholders.
The lobbyist registry bylaw requires that lobbyists record lobbying activity within 10 business days of the initial communication taking place. Lobbyists are asked to disclose lobbying activities by identifying the subject matter, the client for which they are lobbying, the individual they lobbied, the method of communication and the date.
Arnie Ivsins, who heads the Southshore Nature Park task force, said Thomson’s comments raise some basic questions.
“Does this mean that any time a group of citizens who are in opposition to or have a concern with any matter in a neighbourhood come together, whether it's with a petition, a rally, or request a meeting with or email a council member, are they now obligated to register?” he asked. “We would say no.”
Ivsins asked Cooke for clarification and she said in October 2023, the lobbyist registry bylaw was updated to include a definition under organization: ‘A corporation without share capital incorporated to pursue, without financial gain to its members, objects of a national, provincial, patriotic, religious, philanthropic, charitable, scientific, artistic, social, professional or sporting character or other similar objects.’
Cooke explained what that means.
“While you may not consider your groups as a corporation, council’s intent with these additions was to ensure that special interest/community groups report lobbying activities even if there is no financial gain to its members,” she told Ivsons in an email. “This is why the request was made by the deputy mayor (Thomson) to register your activities at (Wednesday) night’s council meeting.
“You will need to identify each interaction with a member(s) of council.”
But Ivsins said he is not convinced.
“If the city wants unincorporated groups ... to register as lobbyists, they should amend the definition to replace ‘corporation’ with ‘special interest/community group,” he said. “We think the ... groups are definitely not a ‘corporation’.
“You are a lobbyist only if you are seeking a direct or indirect financial benefit? Clearly we are not, unless preserving natural heritage is considered a financial benefit,” Ivsins said. “It may be such to the city, but clearly not to Friends of Allandale Station Park and the Southshore Nature Park task force.”
Ivsins said he is asking city integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig for clarification, as is Brian Miller of Friends of Allandale Station Park.
“What we’re doing as a group of citizens who are concerned about a (city council) motion on a park in the city, that’s not lobbying,” said Miller, 62, a retired police officer. “We’re about maintaining a naturalized area and not having a sports field there, period.”
He said it’s wrong to deem any group of Barrie residents as lobbyists who take issue with a motion council by getting together, giving their group a name, gathering, having a couple of rallies and signing a petition.
“The bylaw speaks to people who are paid individuals and lobbyists,” Miller said. “Citizens should not be considered lobbyists on a lobbyist registry with the city.”
Ivsins, Miller and three others made deputations to council Wednesday concerning a series of motions and amendments concerning recommendations in The Southshore, Barrie Sports and a Revitalized Downtown, released Aug. 14 and authored by Marshall Green, a retired lawyer with a specialty in municipal law and land use planning.
This includes plans for a new multi-use sports field at the old Barrie Central Collegiate site, the former Fisher auditorium property on Dunlop Street West — instead of land close to Lakeshore Drive, on a portion of Allandale Station Park, which attracted such heated opposition.
And to have staff prepare a design concept to locate a passive park east of General John Hayter Southshore Community Centre to include a minimum of two acres of grass cut area, to allow for overflow parking for historical events, such as Kempenfest, that will occur on the property and to have accessible walkways through the naturalized area, and report back with the concept and costing.
“In terms of the two acres, I applaud the mayor's comments (Wednesday) evening that we wait for staff to come up with a design concept and see where that lands in terms of any required mowing space,” Ivsins said. “We have found that city staff have been extremely collaborative with us to this point.”
Green’s report recommended "that the city develop the current wooded area and meadow on the south shore as a passive park that protects existing wildlife and with trail systems that are accessible; that the park also include an educational component; that citizens groups and service clubs in the city be engaged with the city’s parks department to develop the park; and that the lands ultimately designed for this part of the park be zoned environmental protection (EP)."
A new performing arts centre (PAC) is proposed at the Sea Cadets site, when the young sailors relocate to a 6,458-square-foot addition to Southshore Centre, a northerly extension to the basement of the existing building, which comes with a $4.55-million cost.
Hariri Pontarini Architects will be retained to complete a schematic design for a new PAC. Its design will be for an approximately 45,000-square-foot facility that includes both 600-seat and 250-seat performance spaces. The maximum total will be $65 million in hard and soft construction costs for the building itself, including fit-out of all seating and audio, visual components.
City staff will also determine the feasibility of using the current Sea Cadets site, near the Spirit Catcher on Lakeshore Drive, and any required surrounding city lands for a new PAC.
A full-time capital project manager will be hired by the city to co-ordinate the site investigations and schematic design work, and the position will be funded from the PAC redevelopment capital project theatre reserve.
Also, the Sea Cadets parade ground will be removed as one of the uses for the proposed multi-use sports field and staff would provide a concept plan, including costs for locating a drill square, with a hard surface, to the west of Southshore Centre as an extension to the parking lot, and again report back to councillors.
