From their position on a safe injection site and affordable housing to climate and culture, prospective councillors in Ward 3 were hit with numerous questions during a candidates meeting Tuesday night.
A Ward 3 byelection candidates meeting, hosted by Engage Barrie, was held at Adams Funeral Home on St. Vincent Street, with around 100 people coming out to hear their views on some of the issues facing the city.
Candidates taking part were Stephen Ciesielski, Ram Faerber, Ann-Marie Kungl, Gerry Marshall, Kelly Patterson McGrath, Devin Scully, and Tanya Saari. Not in attendance was former Ward 5 councillor Peter Silveira.
Right off the hop, following brief opening remarks, candidates were asked point-blank where they stand on the hot-button topic of placing a supervised consumption site (SCS) in or near downtown Barrie. City council has asked for more detailed information before endorsing an application that would be sent to the province for approval.
Kungl, who moved to Barrie 16 years ago and has a background in public health, says she's a "full supporter" of an SCS.
"We have an amazing amount of information and we have fact-based information provided to us by experts working in this region ... that have put together a five-pillar strategy," said Kungl, who finished third in Ward 1 in the 2018 municipal election. "Harm reduction is a core pillar. This is about saving lives.
"The delay that is happening at a municipal level, I think, is unacceptable," Kungl added.
Marshall, a former Penetanguishene mayor and Simcoe County warden prior to moving to Barrie to be closer to family, called an SCS "a necessity" in Barrie "to help those who have such struggles in their life.
"The reality of the situation is you have to have a consumption site close to where the people are that need that service, so it can't be located where they're not," said Marshall, adding security and safety measures would also have to be put in place.
Faerber, a two-time mayoral candidate who picked up 2,467 votes in the 2018 city election versus Jeff Lehman, says he wants no part of an SCS.
"A lot of us don't understand what a safe consumption site really is," said Faerber, who runs a recycling company and has lived in Ward 3 for 19 years. "I, personally, would fight really hard not to have a safe consumption site in Barrie.
"Supervised drug consumption sites have resulted in increased crime and disorder in the surrounding area and have a negative effect on communities," added Faerber, a father of four, who also asserted SCS supervisors have become addicted to drugs themselves. "There are many other ways to deal with this problem."
Ciesielski says he's "definitely in favour" of an SCS, which has been proposed for 80 Mulcaster St.
"I believe the site on Mulcaster was a perfect location," said Ciesielski, who has lived in Barrie for more than 25 years, including the last decade in Ward 3. "It's not right downtown, but it's close to downtown, where people need it the most."
Ciesielski, who's a cancer survivor with a business background, says a proposed injection site needs to move forward quickly.
"As our population grows, so does the problem," he said.
Scully, who's self-employed and moved to Barrie three years ago, says he supports an SCS that can benefit the entire community, but holds a wait-and-see approach.
"Let me be clear: I want people to be able to get they help they need to get better and I like the idea of a safe consumption site," he said. "But if we as a city are going to put our endorsement on an application being sent to the provincial government, we need to make sure that the information is complete, correct and that the application is being sent on time."
Scully says he wants to see more complete information from health officials before he can take a stance on an SCS.
Saari, a local real-estate agent who has lived in Barrie for 15 years and also has a banking background, says an SCS is needed to handle the city's drug problem.
"I'm definitely in support of a safe consumption site," said Saari, who finished second in Ward 3 in the 2018 municipal election with 415 votes. "We are dealing with a crisis and I think we need to look at more wraparound services and stronger addictions counselling."
Patterson McGrath, who's semi-retired and has more than 30 years of experience in management, is also an SCS supporter.
"We need to support our vulnerable," said Patterson McGrath, who has lived in Ward 3 for 27 years and is a member of the Barrie police auxiliary. "We need to be compassionate. We need to have the services on the site that support their recovery, that support their mental health, and that support their livelihood."
HIGHER OFFICE?
The byelection was necessary after former councillor Doug Shipley resigned his seat in the wake of becoming Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP in October's federal election, less than a year after the city's 2018 municipal election. Shipley had represented Ward 3 since 2010.
Candidates were asked about their political aspirations and whether they have plans to pursue higher levels of government, as well as their political affiliations and if they've accepted any party donations.
"It's no secret I'm actively involved with the Conservative Party," said Scully. "I'm not going to sit here and be ashamed of that. At the end of the day, though, decisions made at the council table, they're independent of party politics. They have to be what's right for the ward and what's right for the city. Partisan affiliation has nothing to do with that."
Scully says he has received "well over 25, maybe 30 donations ranging in size from $5 to over $500 and if people want to donate and have their voice heard that way, I'm all for that."
On whether he'd run for higher office, Scully says he's unsure of what the future holds, however.
"Never say never. I'm young," he said. "I've got a long future ahead of me and, right now, I don't see myself wanting to run for a higher office in the immediate future, certainly not in this or the next term of council.
"But I'm not going to rule out what I do in my 30s."
Marshall, who was the Liberal candidate in Simcoe North in the 2018 provincial election, finishing in third place, was also up front with the audience.
"Similar to (Scully), it's no surprise I actually ran in the last election as a Liberal, so I'm a card-carrying Liberal and have been for quite some time," Marshall said. "Having said that, municipal politics is non-partisan."
Marshall also pointed to his role as county warden and working with people of all political stripes to make decisions.
"It's actually about working with a group of people (and) having your voice heard," he said. "When you sit at that table, it is really about listening. You need to listen to hear what your fellow council members are saying.
"If you sit there with a pre-determined opinion, and you sit there and just wait to speak, you're not going to get the full value of being part of a full council that's looking at an issue from several different ways," Marshall added.
Marshall reiterated that he moved to Barrie to be closer to family, but had missed municipal politics. He said his only aspirations outside of the council chambers would be possibly representing the city on organizations such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).
Ciesielski, Faerber, Kungl, Patterson McGrath and Saari all said they have no desire to seek higher levels of office and have not taken any donations from political parties.
Voting in the byelection opens Thursday, Feb. 13.
Moderator Alyssa Wright said she was pleased with the amount of information that came out of Tuesday's meeting.
"I thought everyone was very respectful of the process, of the audience and of each other," said Wright, a member of Engage Barrie, a group of approximately 70 people formed last summer.
The full two-hour candidates meeting can be viewed here.
