Did you receive a notice in the mail about the upcoming ‘Finding Our Voice’ town hall?
Around 200 flyers were distributed to Orillia residents received flyers in recent weeks promoting the upcoming event, billed as a discussion about issues impacting residents.
The flyer cites homelessness and crime, the city heading towards ‘agenda 2030’, ‘private land grabs’, and more as talking points for the town hall, which is being held at Creative Nomad Studios on June 6 from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m.
No contact information for event organizers was listed on the flyer, with organizers saying they were waiting to gauge public interest before creating an official email account.
Upon request, Creative Nomad Studios connected OrilliaMatters with organizer Gillian Purkiss, who said the event is meant to be an open mic gathering for residents to discuss local concerns.
“This is an open mic event to hear from Orillia residents and to connect them,” Purkiss said in an emailed statement. “Reports of crime rate in Orillia is up 40 per cent over last year according to Stats Canada. Drug (overdoses) are also reported as high.”
OrilliaMatters could not confirm the crime statistics cited by Purkiss, but has previously reported about spikes in violent crime and property crime in Orillia through 2022, and the OPP’s three year action plan to address crime in 2023.
Purkiss said the event is meant for Orillia residents to share concern and information, and to give residents “a voice.”
“We want to know if Orillia residents have any more information. This is a sharing event,” she said. “The (city) council has denied open forums and deputations of many residents, so we want to give them a voice.”
Purkiss said her friends have been denied deputations at council meetings regarding fossil fuels, land purchases and expropriations being "approved and encouraged" by the province, and expressed concern that residents are "being censored" by being denied permission to speak at council meetings.
"Concerns that residents have voiced, specifically, are that residents are no longer encouraged/welcome to speak at council," she said. "This appears to be a regular occurrence, despite the fact that taxpayers keep council employed."
As per the City of Orillia website, residents who register in advance may speak to items on a council meeting's agenda during the open public forum at the beginning of a council meeting, and they may speak about any issue that falls under city jurisdiction at the end of a meeting.
"I love this town and I know Council are working hard towards their goals, but we would like to give input when needed and to see decision made with more transparency," Purkiss said.
Purkiss said the "event is not associated to any other group. It's for residents of Orillia."
She did not clarify what is meant by ‘agenda 2030’, but said no other issues or promotional materials are planned for the event.
Creative Nomad Studios provides rental space for a wide variety of public events, said owner Anitta Hamming, who noted some residents have reached out with concerns about the event taking place at her business.
“We're a space people can come and rent,” she told OrilliaMatters. “We don't endorse the events that come here, unless we're actually co-sponsoring them. Most events that happen here are actually just people coming in and renting, and anyone can come in and rent the space.
“They can choose what kind of events to host here, as long as they're legal," said Hamming.
