Archives September 2021

Suspect sought in Shoppers Drug Mart distraction thefts in Barrie

Barrie police have released another image of a man suspected in three distraction thefts at Shoppers Drug Mart stores.

The latest theft was July 22 at Shoppers on Essa Road.

An employee discovered numerous boxes of perfume, with an estimated value of $3,500, had been stolen.

Investigators believe the suspect is responsible for similar distraction thefts that occurred on  and July 9.

On June 10, 19 boxes of perfume were stolen from the same Shoppers on Essa. A second suspect was involved in that theft.

On July 9, about $4,735 in perfume was stolen from the Shoppers on Mapleview Avenue.

The suspect is described as:

• Male (35 to 45 years old)

• Medium build, five-foot-10

• Short black hair

• Dark goatee

Anyone with information is asked to contact Const. Howlett at ext. 2638,  or to remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or leave an anonymous tip online at .

Maria Hardie — SMCDSB trustee Barrie Wards 6-10

In 1982, I moved to Barrie with my husband and two children. Both our children are graduates of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB). To ensure my involvement in their day-to-day education, I became a volunteer at their elementary school, St. John Vianney. This led me to become an educational assistant in the system. Following that, and for the next many years, I worked as school office administrator, retiring from St. Nicholas School.

As a family, we are active and involved in the parish life at St. John Vianney Church. My husband and I have served in various ministries over the years.

In 2010, I ran and was elected as a trustee for the SMCDSB, representing Wards 6 to 10. Over these last eight years, I have acted as chair of the board for three years and for four years as vice-chair. In both capacities, I served on many committees.

Trustees are elected by taxpayers to listen to the concerns and expectations of their constituents and to ensure their interests are heard at the board table. I have always worked diligently to be that representative voice of the families and staff in my wards.

I am an advocate for academic excellence, lifelong learning and the personal growth of our students and staff. I have and will continue to encourage the home-school-church tradition, as I believe these three partners must work together to ensure our children are socialized into our Catholic faith.

Should I be re-elected, I promise to continue to advocate for safeguarding our constitutional right to maintain funding for Catholic schools for future generations. I promise also to continue to actively listen and hear the constituents of my wards and be their authentic representative at the SMCDSB table.

Campaign office address: 4 Debra Cres., Barrie

Twitter

Tony Veltri — New Tecumseth mayor

Since 325 words don’t allow for in depth platform pronouncements, I’ll get right to it. Within the first 100 days of taking office, I will ask council to support several measures that will immediately take us on a new course. They include:

— Stopping any further progress on the $15 million new administration centre. I am opposed to draining reserves by $7 million and adding at least $8 million in long-term debt that can only be financed by taxes, to pay for it. I will ask for all options to be investigated.

— I will ask council to reaffirm the town’s opposition to the 15,000 unit Cappuccitti/Mattamy proposal between Alliston and Beeton and send it to Simcoe County and the OMB. The incumbent mayor is the only consistent supporter of this application.

— I will ask council to support changing council meeting nights to Wednesdays because Mondays are inefficient, don’t leave time for public scrutiny of agendas, and are interrupted by holidays. Since the meeting format change in March 2017, council has held approximately 30 “special meetings” attached to the regular agenda. That means they don’t meet enough, which creates inefficient delays in decision-making and takes the public out of the mix.

— I will ask support for the reintroduction of standing committees, particularly planning, including public representation and not merely as an advisory board. Standing committees allow the public to be involved from the beginning. It’s a means of taking control back from developers, who’ve had a good run of the place for long enough.

— I will ask council to support ending any further intrusion by Simcoe County into our water and wastewater infrastructure, as well insist New Tecumseth directs where new growth occurs.

— I will not sign-off on the Briar Hill water connection deal as negotiated behind closed doors. And, I will move fast-tracking the pipeline connection to Tottenham.

-More that can be said, but I’m out of space. for full details.

Tony Veltri


Ed Christie – Clearview Township Ward 1

Ed Christie is a 42-year resident of Clearview.

He was born in Collingwood and graduated from Collingwood Collegiate Institute. He moved away to build his career but returned to Clearview to live and raise a family. He is now fully retired and ready to serve the residents of Ward 1, Clearview.

Ed is married to Diane McKee and they are the parents of Michael (Sandra Downer) and Dana (Shawn denBok). They enjoy time with four grandchildren.

An Ontario Agricultural College graduate, Ed Christie went on to become Ontario Sales Supervisor for Chipman Chemicals.  He then returned home and opened Christie’s Clothing in Collingwood.

As a former Collingwood Town Councillor, Ed brings a great deal of municipal experience to the race for the Clearview council seat in Ward 1. He has chaired the Collingwood Heritage and Sign committees. As Chair of the Collingwood Downtown Business Improvement Association, Ed was a driving force behind the nationally recognized revitalization of Collingwood’s Historic Downtown District.

Ed sat on the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority, the Hospital Board, is Past President of the Collingwood Rotary Club and was a founding member of the South Georgian Bay Rotary Club.

As for issues facing Ward 1, Clearview, Ed believes it is necessary to push for an Official Plan Update. He feels the time has come to have this material reviewed to meet today’s demands and standards.

He will also work to initiate a public meeting to allow residents to talk specifically about water and sewer requirements in Nottawa. He believes development in the village is being held back by existing bylaws.

“We have to find a way to make Ward 1 enticing for a developer to want to come here.”

Ed Christie says it would be his pleasure to serve the residents and help continue to do good work on Clearview Council.

Visit Ed Christie’s website: 

Telephone: 

Email: 


Gene Haas Foundation donates $40,000 for Georgian College students

Georgian College students in the mechanical technician and precision skills program could soon benefit from a generous donation.

Dan Ferko, President of Sirco Machinery Co. Ltd., a Canadian Haas Factory Outlet, visited the college recently to present a cheque for $40,000 US to senior staff and faculty. The money will support the Gene Haas Scholarship for students in the mechanical technician and precision skills program who achieve an average of 75 per cent or higher in their third semester.

“We are committed to helping Georgian College students achieve their goals of pursuing a career in the trades,” said Ferko.

Since 2014, the Gene Haas Foundation has donated over $134,000 and more than 100 students have benefited from the scholarship. This year 32 students each received $1,717 in awards and scholarships courtesy of the foundation.


Alliston hospital’s ex-communications manager enters guilty plea for child luring

A former corporate communications manager for Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston has entered a guilty plea for child luring, according to media reports.

Alliston resident Jared Nolan made the plea today (July 13) at the Ontario Court of Justice in Bradford.

In November 2016, Nolan, then 34, was arrested and charged with a number of criminal offences following a six-week OPP investigation into Internet luring and child pornography.

Police started the investigation in September 2016 after receiving a complaint about a man communicating with a young female in a sexual manner over the Internet.

Nolan, who started working at the hospital in April 2015, allegedly used his position at the hospital to gain the victim’s contact information.

He was charged with three counts of Internet luring, one count of transmitting sexually explicit material to a person under 18 years old, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

He was released on $150,000 bail in November 2016.

Further details will be posted once available.

Steve Trotter — Barrie Ward 6

Like many of you, I moved to Barrie and bought a new home in Ward 6. I have been a 20-year resident of Ward 6. My education is in economics with a master’s degree in finance, as well as continuing education in municipal administration. My professional experience has been in both the private and public sectors, and currently I am the director of credit for an international computer distribution company.  

I would like to say it has been an honour to return to Barrie city council and represent the residents of Ward 6. As your member of council, I bring extensive municipal experience to the position of councillor, having represented Ward 6 for a total of 10 years. During my time on council I focused on being a community builder for our area. I championed the preservation of our natural environment, with over 500 acres throughout Ward 6, including the Ardagh Bluffs now in public ownership and accessible for us to enjoy. And I chaired the building committee for the Holly Recreation Centre. These are examples of my community building.

The future brings new challenges and new priorities.  My No. 1 priority is to ensure we maintain safe, livable and affordable communities.  I want to see a new “community-driven” official plan that better reflects changing community attitudes so we can better manage the impact of intensification on existing communities.  I want to expand traffic-calming measures to ensure our neighbourhoods are safe. We need to address the increasing traffic issues in the area, I want to keep the Harvie Road-Big Bay Point overpass on schedule.  I am going to manage the city’s finances in a responsible manner and ensure we are getting value for our hard-earned money. Good fiscal management starts with a positive environment for economic growth to ensure quality jobs, so more who live here can work here and relieve pressure on the residential taxpayer.

We live in an area with tremendous potential and a wonderful city. Together we can build a better Barrie. I ask for your support. My campaign phone number is .

What Barrie firefighters are learning about you during their ongoing safety blitz

They’re still into the early days of their inaugural door-to-door safety campaign, but Barrie firefighters are already learning a good deal about the residents they serve.

Barrie Fire and Emergency Service staff have visited more than 3,000 homes since launching the blitz in May. Much of the data they’ve collected through at-the-door surveys has helped support the department’s hypothesis that many residents simply do not know their smoke alarms expire.

“We knew the rate of compliance was low,” Deputy Chief Jeff Weber said. “Now that we’re actually seeing that, we can start to direct our programs (accordingly).”

Barrie Fire estimates 70 per cent of residential properties in the city do not meet current fire safety rules.

The campaign will run until Fire Prevention Week in October; crews will visit about 11,500 homes by that time. Barrie Fire plans to make this an annual blitz and expects crews will visit every home in the city within the next few years.

This year, firefighters will target neighbourhoods with homes primarily built between eight and 18 years ago. Those properties should have smoke alarms on every floor.

“Over a number of years of doing this, we will get to see a really dynamic view of what our city looks like, from a fire safety perspective,” Weber said. “People are aware they have smoke alarms. They are aware they are interconnected. But they are not aware they expire.”

Smoke alarms expire within 10 years of the date they were manufactured. If purchased and installed in 2006 or later, an expiry date will be visible on the alarm.

About 15 per cent of survey respondents are tenants. Most respondents also say they test their alarms regularly. 

Surprisingly, firefighters are running into a language barrier at several homes, Weber said.

“That makes it difficult to communicate our public safety message,” he said. “We need to start looking at other avenues for providing that public safety message.”

The department may need to consider translating its literature into languages other than French and English, and getting specialized community groups to assist in the dissemination of fire safety information, he said.

For more information on the campaign, visit .

Cookstown library displays watercolour work of local artist

Artist Diana Di Giacopo-Robinson has her family to thank for getting back into painting.

“I’ve been an artist since I was a kid,” she said. “My earliest childhood memories are of a desire to paint and draw.”

Now, her water-themed paintings captured on a family trip to Innisfil Beach Park are featured at the Cookstown branch of the Innisfil ideaLAB and Library.

“I’m interested in (the) reflection colours of water,” she said. “I was in love with blue and am still attracted to that colour.”

Displaying her work is an unexpected perk for the Alliston resident, who just picked up her brush a few years ago.

Di Giacopo-Robinson graduated from the fine arts program at York University and worked on canvas and sculpture pieces for a few years, before life got in the way and she put down her brush.

But her husband recently changed careers and encouraged her to return to her first passion.

“He freed up time to watch the kids and I started working vigorously, making one larger-sized canvas a month.”

She is now a member of the South Simcoe Arts Council, adding at least 30 new paintings to her collection — some reflecting time spent with her family.

To learn more about Di Giacopo-Robinson, visit .

Food bank feeding Thornton and beyond

It’s been over five years since the Thornton Community Food Bank set up shop inside the basement of the New Life Church on Robert Street, yet many still don’t know it’s there to help those who need it.

“It took a while to get the word out, but gradually it spread and the number of families that we have registered has grown to 200 since that time, and it continues to grow each month,” said Sarah Hines, who heads up the food bank with Wendy Kerr.

The food bank opened in January 2013 and is run by a team of about 20 volunteers from the surrounding area. It is a joint venture between New Life Community Church in Thornton, and Living Faith Community Presbyterian Church in Baxter.

Clients come from Thornton and neighbouring communities like Baxter, Angus, Innisfil and even the south end of Barrie.

A monthly point system is used to distribute food, and the number of points is based on how many members are in the family.

When new clients come to the food bank, they are asked to present I.D. and fill out an application form with basic information.

“We do our very best to treat our clients with dignity and respect, but we must collect this information in order to ensure that all the donations from the community are being distributed to those genuinely in need,” she said.

In the last three months Hines said there have been 127 visits to the food bank, which amounts to about 7,684 points, or an estimated $8,000 in food.

Most of the food products at the bank are non-perishable, but they do have a limited selection of produce like onions, potatoes and apples, and they also try to carry meat.

The selection always depends on the time of year and what’s been donated.

“We also carry baked goods that are generously donated by the Zehrs in Alliston, which we’ve picked up every Tuesday since the food bank initially opened,” she said.

The bank also accepts lightly used clothes for children and adults, along with winter gloves, hats and boots.

“Even when we are closed there is work going on behind the scenes several days during the week,” she said. “Aside from picking up the bread we also shop to ensure that our shelves are full for our families. We scour the sale flyers every week to take advantage of all sale priced items so that we are sure our donated funds are stretched as far as possible.”

While they don’t belong to the Association of Food Banks, they have a good working relationship with the Angus and Alliston food banks and have received food items from them on a number of occasions.

The food bank is located at ., just east of the Thornton Fire Hall and library, and is open to the public every Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 7.30 p.m.

Extra donations are needed to ensure the shelves remain stocked over the summer.

For more information or to arrange a donation call or email .