Barrie is about to join the County of Simcoe and other municipalities voting to ban door-to-door salespeople in the city.
The recommendation from general committee could get approval from council on Monday, directing city staff to prepare a report aimed at sending sellers packing.
"I'm not against people fundraising. I'm not against the girl guides collecting money for cookies. I'm not against students doing fundraisers for school," said Coun. Andrew Prince.
The problem and the issue that we are faced with is the aggressive tactics that are being used by out-of-town companies that are essentially fear-mongering residents into signing contracts,” he added, urging council to lobby the provincial government for a ban.
“I've come to the point where just enough is enough.”
Over 124 complaints have been filed with the city against one company, he said, refusing to name the company that could face charges.
Coun. Michael Prowse was on a different page, suggesting any bans or controls be locally developed and controlled.
“It keeps it in our jurisdiction, which will allow us to have some input on the end result as opposed to sending something off to the province and keeping our fingers crossed that they understand it and do something useful with it,” he said.
While they agreed that contracts or other legal documents should not be signed at the door, not all councillors support an outright ban.
“I think this is an issue, but I think it's one you solve with a fly swatter, not a bazooka,” Prowse said.
A similar debate at a Simcoe County council meeting was sparked by a Township of Wellington North resolution urging the province to ban door-to-door home energy sales, just as it outlawed the selling of natural gas and electricity contracts in the Strengthening Consumer Protection and Electricity System Oversight Act in 2015.
Wellington North Township noted the new law isn’t being respected and “Ontarians over the last 12 months continue to experience unsolicited, aggressive and misleading sales tactics at their door from companies seeking to sell home energy products, despite this provincial legislation.”
Barrie council will vote on the issue on June 27 and Simcoe County council will decide on June 28.
