About Us

Our Principles
We, the undersigned, residents and community members of Simcoe County, are calling on local leaders to implement a sustainable, just recovery from the COVID crisis. We must make our communities more resilient, equitable and better prepared to withstand future crises, including the emerging impacts of the climate crisis.
People’s health and wellbeing must be the central focus in all of our current and future decisions and planning. We require more than investment in a robust healthcare infrastructure since only 20% of health outcomes are related to it. The other 80% of our health outcomes result from the social, economic, and natural environments in which we live and work. These conditions can absolutely be changed by our policy and planning choices.
In light of this, we ask that three principles – Invest in People, Invest in Nature, and Invest in Communities – be applied to municipal decision making. Specifically, we request that council direct staff to ensure that any recovery plans, related committee work and community improvement projects reflect these principles. We outline the principles and provide suggestions for achieving each below.
Invest in People
Create conditions to generate and support local, sustainable, secure jobs:Move toward an Index of Wellbeing to measure our communities’ prosperity.
Invest in Nature
Recognize the role that ecosystems play in supporting our health:Increase access, where appropriate, to natural areas to foster a deeper connection with nature and encourage the mental health benefits nature provides:
Invest in Communities
Seek and facilitate community engagement and give a greater voice to marginalized and racialized people:Create communities that are equitable by design:
We all want to live in healthy, prosperous communities. We believe that the aforementioned principles provide a clear path towards this goal for the residents in Simcoe County. In the coming months, we will continue to engage with our respective partners to further identify and refine these recommendations.
We look forward to communicating with you further to improve our community’s equity, safety, inclusivity, and sustainability which increases our collective health and wellbeing.
Local Signatories
AWARE Simcoe
Barrie and District Association of Singer-Songwriters
Barrie and District Labour Council
Barrie DOCS
Barrie Families Unite
Bradford Women’s+ Group
Collingwood Climate Action Team
Concerned Citizens of Ramara
CONTACT Community Services
Couchiching Conservancy
Engage Barrie
$15 and Fairness Barrie
Firebird Community Cycle
FridaysForFuture Simcoe
Friends of Simcoe Forests
Friends of Strawberry Island
Grace United Church
Grilled Cheese Social Eatery
Hope Cafe Records
Huronia Meditation Group
Innisfil District Association
Katie Project
Leap Barrie
Living Green Barrie
New Tecumseth Climate Action
Redwood Park Communities
Red Scarf Equestrian Inc.
Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition
Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness (SCATEH)
Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition
Sustainable Orillia
Take Note! Promotion
Thomson Architecture, Inc.
Urban Pantry
York Simcoe Nature Club
Provincial and National Signatories
Climate Strike Canada
Council of Canadians
Ontario Headwaters Institute
Ontario Nature
RAVEN – Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs
Wellington Water Watchers
Individual Signatories
Adam Ballah
Turner Bogoslowksi
Laura Brown
Kathleen Caswell
Ed Evans
Nancy Fyles
Barbara Sternberg
Claire Walker
Violet Majpruz
Lee Kelly
Charlene Strudwick
S J Lenko
Marilyn Green
Claire Malcolmson
W Lowry
Catherine Jones
Niall Lawlor
Linda Laforge
Catherine Krever
Rebecca Bray
Kristin Reid
Ghisele Maurice
Alyssa Wright
Marie-Josee Yelle
Geoffrey Reaume
Marian Parrott
Helene Van Houten
Nicholas Clayton
Tanya Clark
Evelyn Perdue
Kendra Marr
Lee Miller
Ann Orr
Laurel Hood
Mary Jane McIntyre
Joyce Ward
Beth Theis
Catherine Huycke
Annette Snowdon
Donna Deneault
Kelly Bradley
JoAnne Fleming
Kristina Smith
Ann Orr
Robert Wilkinson
Nick Laferriere
John Capon
Ray Mueller
Taylor Willenborg
Jeanne Beneteau
Peter Monahan
Kate Harries
Ann Truyens
Susan Cadogan
Kelly Patterson McGrath
Riley Williamson
Scott McCrindle
Melody Clarke
Christine Kelsey
Louise Mallows
Victoria kirst
Manasse van Rooij
Lyndsay Ayliffe
Courtney Baker
Lynette and Dave Mader
Roz Campbell
Susan Miller
Laura Wilson
Susan Watson
Ginny Kaner
Nick Clayton
Steve McDonald
Anne Kelliher
Deb Woods
Pam Mitchell
John Mitchell was
Niall Lawlor