Whatever anagram ‘North Simcoe except Midland’ becomes, it might well become the new involvement for culture in the region.
At the recent committee of the whole meeting in Tiny Township, Coun. Dave Brunelle surprised fellow council members when he presented a lengthy motion in response to a Tay Township notification to withdraw from the Culture Alliance last month.
In late 2024, a nearly-unanimous Midland council voted to stop funding the four-partner North Simcoe initiative Culture Alliance and reinvest into their own municipality. The decision sent ripples as other municipalities saw little reason to stay in without Midland as the pillar of support; Tay crafted five resolutions within their motion to withdraw.
At the Tiny meeting, Tay’s motion was read aloud for the first time to council but added a sixth Tiny-specific resolution: to reinvest the $7,500 annual contribution instead to a yet-to-be-determined culture initiative. Brunelle also alluded to similarities with Midland removing funding for the Economic Development Corporation of North Simcoe.
“There will be an initiative that's going to happen for culture in North Simcoe,” Brunelle firmly stated. “With the remaining partners… we are going to be discussing this month what we're going to do about culture, because culture is very alive and very important in this area.”
Skepticism was raised to reinvestment at a yet-to-be-created joint project, with other council members instead supporting the $7,500 allocation toward the levy so as to aim under a seven-per-cent, municipal tax-rate increase at budget approval in April.
While council members agreed that leaving the Culture Alliance was the right thing to do for Tiny Township, confusion was shown toward the fifth resolution requiring that the township no longer participate in any joint committee without a memorandum of understanding and its various exits (as per Tay’s writing).
“To take it from Culture Alliance and then spread it across everything we do – amongst our whole North Simcoe, Simcoe, wherever we go – that we have to now follow this (MOU)… I'm sorry, I don't agree with that,” said Mayor Dave Evans. “It stops us from communicating or working with other municipalities, and we don’t want to do that.”
Evans further explained that disagreements would occur between neighbouring municipalities looking after their own residents, and addressed Brunelle directly to assure him “you did everything that was right” as the township representative. However, Evans described the fifth resolution as a barrier.
“I know it’s not as dramatic as that, but it is when you put it down here; (with) funding formula (and) outclauses.”
Other council members also said they were against the harsh language of the fifth resolution. CAO Robert Lamb also agreed that “the language as it is would make it very difficult for even the CAOs to jointly get into a room and try to figure out how to do something”, although he saw value from Brunelle’s suggestion for the money to be set aside for culture-related initiatives.
The committee of the whole agreed to remove the fifth and sixth resolutions of Brunelle’s motion, with approval for the remainder: to withdraw from the Culture Alliance, advise the other councils and have staff provide a report on the remaining $17,000 of projected revenue surplus.
It was further anticipated that Penetanguishene would address the Culture Alliance withdrawal at their upcoming council meeting.
The Tay Township resolution letter of Culture Alliance withdrawal to North Simcoe municipalities can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the Township’s YouTube channel.
