News clips: Hughes and Ford bond over plans to ‘move projects along’

Premier Doug Ford with Oro Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes on December 10 2018. He was one of seven mayors invited to Queen’s Park. 

Mayor Harry Hughes on Ontario Morning – CBC Radio

“We have specific projects that are being stalled or being delayed… that if we could move those along, and we talked specifically about those issues. One of the issues that we have is that we have no difficulty attracting industry. The difficulty is really that we have nowhere for industry to locate where they can be successful.

“Right now the Growth Plan limits the amount of land that we can zone for industry, we have a major highway going through Oro Medonte, from Barrie to Orillia, Highway #11, industries would like to locate along that and really what’s happening because we can’t locate them in that area where they’d like to be, we are turning industries away that are seeking areas to create jobs.

“The other aspect, some of the policies and the length of time that it takes to implement things. For example, we had a major development, someone investing $10 million to improve a golf course and when they went to move ahead, they put forth an application for a larger septic tank, and the way thing are in Ontario at the moment is that it takes six months for staff to look at that application, setting the project back a year. Time to look at moving some of those processes along that the province involved in can do a lot to help.”

Any promises?

“Yes, he listened to each of the projects, he had his policy advisor, chief of staff there, and fundamentally, each one that we spoke about, he promised action on every one of them.”

Any surprises?

“One of the surprises that I had was the fact that it was not only casual, but it was like talking to another mayor who had been through the same kind of processes and situations that we are in, understands readily without much explanation, what the problems were and the facts that things need to be done.

“The other surprise was the fact that it’s pretty clear that he intends to follow through on what he says, not only did he make a commitment to move things along but he also established timeframes, and even to the point of follow-up, of giving us his personal cell number to contact him and to meet if there was something to be done to move along.”

Link to podcast (Full interview with Hughes and Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Latham, 15:29 to 28:04. Another interview was with Bruce Davidson of Walkerton on proposed changes to Clean Water Act, 7:56 to 15:29)

Oro-Medonte mayor confident after meeting with premier

by: Nathan Taylor Orillia Matters

The mayor of Oro-Medonte had some valuable face time with Ontario’s premier Monday and left their meeting feeling confident about the township’s future.

Mayor Harry Hughes and township CAO Robin Dunn met with Premier Doug Ford for 45 minutes at Queen’s Park.

When Hughes received the invitation Friday — “an invitation without any details” — he was curious.

“It comes down to an approach for dealing with the deficit,” he told OrilliaMatters. “This meeting was about finding ways to grow the economy of Ontario.”

Ford had summoned mayors from municipalities of various sizes to hear their concerns, and Hughes gave the premier an earful.

The first issue Hughes raised was the province’s Places to Grow Act, which is “putting a damper on us being able to move forward to create jobs and grow the economy.”

The act, Hughes said, is too restrictive, limiting the amount of land the township can zone as industrial, and limiting the type of industry allowed in the municipality.

As a result, “we are turning industry away on quite a regular basis,” he said, noting the Highway 11 corridor is one of the areas affected.

The mayor also raised the issue of the former Edgar Occupational Centre. The site used to house adults with disabilities. TRY Recycling wanted to have the approximately 100 buildings on the property demolished and repurpose much of the material.

An application submitted seven years ago went nowhere, and the purchaser of the property had to have the buildings demolished. Now the material is “buried in a landfill somewhere in southern Ontario,” Hughes said, adding the TRY Recycling option would have created jobs, too.

Hughes also told the premier of a man who purchased a golf course in the township and needed approval for a septic system, but the province wasn’t going to be accepting such applications for six months. Time was of the essence for the development, Hughes said.

He was impressed with Ford’s response. After Hughes aired his concerns with Places to Grow, he said Ford told him, “This is a no-brainer. Let’s get on that.”

“He gave direction to staff to get working on it,” the mayor said.

He said he was not concerned that easing those restrictions would have a negative impact on the township and the environment: “The checks and balances are there.”

During his few terms as mayor, Hughes has met with other premiers and high-ranking government officials, but he rarely left those meetings feeling confident about any meaningful action being taken. His face-to-face with Ford was different.

“In my mind, there’s no doubt that results will occur,” Hughes said.

There are three types of leadership, he said: “One is to lead, one is to follow and one is to get out of the way.” The impression he got was Ford wanted government to get out of the way.

When the meeting was over, Ford gave Hughes his cell number and told him to call or text any time he has a concern.

“I’m looking forward with more optimism than I have in the past,” Hughes said.

Meeting with Ontario Premier renews optimism for Oro-Medonte Mayor

By Mike Walker, CTV Barrie 

A day after meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Oro-Medonte’s Mayor has a renewed sense of optimism for growing the township’s economy.

Harry Hughes was one of seven mayors invited for a one-on-one meeting with Ford on Monday. At the forefront of the forty-five-minute meeting was Ontario’s ‘Places to Grow Act’ which Hughes says has prevented job creation, especially along the Highway 11 corridor.

“The Places to Grow specifies that the amount of land we can zone for industry and the location that they can be in and the types of industry that we can permit. Where in fact that doesn’t meet the agenda of industries that can be successful.” said Hughes. “We are turning away job-producing industries on a regular basis,”

The mayor argues the act limits how much land the township can zone for industrial and even affordable housing developments.

“The province needs to find a way of getting out of the way,” said Hughes. “To allow municipalities who know their communities well (enough) to be able to advance and make changes they feel will benefit and not to do that without having checks and balances”

These are the same restrictions retired dairy farmer Jim McLean has also experienced with his 125-acre land. McLean wants to give back to his community and build affordable housing for seniors on his land but has been told by municipal planners they don’t believe it’s feasible.

“There’s always been a lot of red tape,” says McLean. “A lot of the planning decisions have been taken away from the local people and it’s been head handed from Queen’s Park. We’ve actually showed this project to many planners – the county and other places – and their first reaction is, oh, what a wonderful plan, but we don’t think it will fly because it doesn’t fit the planning criteria”

McLean’s property is on the border with Barrie and he believes it’s the ideal location for development because of the proximity to local transit and amenities. Now that the issue has been raised with the province, he’s hopeful his vision will take shape.

“I think maybe some of these political obstacles will get shoved aside, said McLean. “We’re not residents of Oro (-Medonte) versus Barrie, it’s a community. And we think this will be something the community will really benefit from.”

Mayor Hughes also raised the specific issue of affordable housing and the dire need for it. Even although the premier didn’t make any specific commitments, Hughes says he’s confident the province will act on the time-sensitive issues he raised.

Premier Doug Ford offers unique opportunity to Oro-Medonte mayor

by Sara Carson Orillia Today

Premier Doug Ford wants to grow Ontario’s economy, and he called Oro-Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes for advice.

Hughes and the township’s chief administrative officer, Robin Dunn, were invited to speak with Ford Monday afternoon at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

“That was a unique invitation. I’ve had conversations of course — informal with premiers — but this was a unique situation,” Hughes said.

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