our story | about

Engage Barrie was formed in 2019 to create an equitable community, mobilize and empower people, and build an engaged local democracy.  We became incorporated as an Ontario not-for-profit organization in June, 2021.

 

As an organization we feel that local government has some of the greatest impact on our daily lives and is a level of government where we can have the most impact.  We want to work within our community to overcome the feeling of being removed and disconnected from local politics and instead feel educated and engaged.
 

Many of us are relatively new to politics in general, and are eager to share what we've learned so far on this journey, such as:
 

• What channels are available to us to have our voices heard?

• What are the responsibilities of our councillors?  How can we work with them?

• What are the roles and responsibilities of committees at city hall?  Who can be involved with them?

• What is electoral reform?

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It’s important to feel comfortable in sharing the ideas and concerns that matter to each one of us, to make our community as successful as possible.  One of our objectives is to help create an equitable, transparent community voice.  We want to be a place where we can come together and understand how our local government works and how we can work with it to exchange ideas.​

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We believe that the easier it is to share ideas and understand how we can work together, the more likely it is that people, from all backgrounds, will become involved. The more people that share their ideas the more diverse, representative and equitable our municipal actions will become.

 

We are excited about encouraging people who might not otherwise be involved in our municipal voice.  A voice can be found everywhere – talking to one another, contacting a councillor, joining a city committee or deciding to run for council.