Mayor Alex Nuttall may have the city’s top job now, but he says he knows what it’s like to have to fight for what you want.
Although life was tough a lot of the times, Nuttall, who has always been open about growing up in social housing, told BarrieToday he doesn't believe he would be who is today without having lived that reality.
“For me, it was the biggest blessing for me. For one, I had a roof over my head. That’s pretty important,” he said. “The passion for helping people in those scenarios is really one of the major definers of how I look at myself.”
In terms of defining who he is as a person later on, Nuttall says all of the areas he loves and has a passion for really come from that experience.
“It’s trying to even out the playing field for young people. They’re born into situations that they have no control over," he said.
"When you put all of that together — and in my life whether it’s as mayor or in the volunteer stuff I do — how do you have the greatest impact on people who can’t fend for themselves to give them that best opportunity for success,” Nuttall added. “Until I accepted it, I couldn’t really build that character related to it.
"I think there are beautiful stories that come out of the most desperate situations. Oftentimes, the people who have experienced the most pain or tribulations end up being those that want to help the most. That can only happen once we accept it. It is going to get better, but it takes a lot of work to get there.”
True melting pot
Nuttall was eight years old when his parents divorced in 1993. He and his two older brothers, along with their mother, found themselves in need of a place to call home.
Fortunately, they were able to get a spot at Mill Creek, which at the time was a “heavily subsidized” 120-unit social housing complex on Yonge Street in the city’s south end.
“It was a place where we were able to have a roof over our heads,” he said of the three-bedroom townhouse with a walk-in closet. “That walk-in closet was actually my bedroom for a long time. It was a saviour for our family.”
The move was an “interesting” change from what they were used to, he admits.
“In the first week, we had knocks at the door from the police. The previous inhabitant had either been involved in drugs or something else and they believed he’d stashed a bunch of things underneath the stairs where the water heater was," said Nuttall.
"It was a weird experience. All of a sudden the police were in your home … (and) found some things and then left about 15 minutes later. It was certainly not something I was used to," he added.
Nuttall described the complex as “a true melting pot of demographics,” and despite a few “bad actors,” it was still home.
“It was very strange that everyone managed to just co-habitate,” he said.
Nuttall recalled one of the more difficult times when he was visiting a friend and could hear a woman screaming in the adjacent unit.
“We called the police and five minutes later you see officers come by with guns out, arrest the guy and he never came back. You go from playing Super Nintendo to that in a blink of an eye is kind of the way it was there," he said.
Despite those kind of incidents, Nuttall described a feeling of “community” within the complex.
“It’s where all my friends were. We were playing manhunt and kick the can … all the backyards there didn’t have fences between them, so we’d play hide and seek in the backyards of 120 places and it was awesome. It provided that shelter and it provided that community.”
As is the case with any neighbourhood, there were some people who were simply disinterested in their residences, but there were many who would try to make the complex feel as safe and “homey” as possible, he said.
“There are people that don’t care, and then there are people who do care but don’t have the capacity to .., whether it’s mental, physical or monetary," said Nuttall.
"It is a huge piece to feel like everybody cares and wants it to be better, and that physical presence of keeping it nice, planting a couple flowers, decorating — and not just having the feeling it’s falling apart and junky — it’s more inviting and feels better as a community when everyone is trying to make it feel and look good," he added.
Life-changing move
Nuttall was 14 years old and just about to start high school when he and his family moved out of Mill Creek and into a townhouse in Barrie's Kingswood area, which his mother purchased using an inheritance following the death of his grandfather.
While he said the way they “got out” was unfortunate, it was a “life-changing move." Nuttall says he’s never forgotten where he came from and strives to use it as an impetus to help others who are in the same situation.
“Until you feel that instability, you’re just never going to understand it,” he said. “The acceptance of it is the thing that’s going to help you move forward and get out of it. I don’t think there should be any shame related to needing a hand up … as long as we do the right thing when we are there.”
Looking forward
When asked how the city, and the region, can best find a way to address the ongoing housing crisis, Nuttall admitted he doesn’t have the answer.
But it is something that is always on his mind.
“We shouldn’t build developments that are solely for subsidized or rent-geared-to-income housing, because what happens in those situations is that those young people aren’t exposed to the opportunities that exist outside of that neighbourhood,” the mayor said.
“If you’re never able to see how life can be different, how are you supposed to get there? There’s a difference between seeing the ridiculous luxury in a music video and experiencing normal, middle-class living. I luckily had that, but many don’t have that," he added.
“Without designing our future housing growth, where you incorporate a piece of affordability into everything that’s happening, I think that’s the best way to get there, versus having affordable places all in one area.”
Ultimately, Nuttall says life is what you make it, but he understands it’s not always easy.
“I loved where I lived. I didn’t love that people knew I lived there, but I loved where I lived," he said. "It can be a thing that fuels people ahead in life. If that’s the choice that’s made and the circumstances are right, it is one of the greatest gifts that you will ever have.
"Having to fight for the bare minimums is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever had,” Nuttall added. “I’ve had some ups and downs in my life, but the downs don’t even feel like downs … because in comparison to back then, I am still way ahead of where I was.
"It’s all what one makes of it if the circumstances are co-operating. If you’re able to look forward and move past it, you will look at it as a massive blessing in so many ways that are hard to understand when you’re in the moment.”
