One of Barrie’s biggest supporters — who has changed the landscape of the city and what it has to offer — may not be known to some residents.
And that’s just how he likes it.
Jamie Massie, arguably one of Barrie’s most prominent business people, has left his mark on many aspects of the city by the bay, the city he has called home all of his life and the community that is so close to his heart.
Bringing an Ontario Hockey League franchise to town in the mid-1990s may be how many folks recognize the name Massie.
But that feat of changing the Barrie Junior 'B' Colts into an OHL team, and being front and centre in creating the Barrie Molson Centre, is certainly not his only claim to fame.
Georgian College’s J.C. Massie Field, named after his late father and the first artificial turf sports field in the city, was a project that typifies Jamie’s drive.
He and his father had the vision to to see how vital the area near Highway 400 and what was then Molson Park Drive would be to Barrie’s future, opening Georgian Pontiac in the early 1990s and setting the scene for what is now the retail behemoth at the city’s south end.
Massie was on the forefront of developing what is now called Springwater Airport (located on Anne Street North), has been a fervent supporter over the years of the MacLaren Art Centre and the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, and also established the Canadian Automotive Institute at the Barrie campus of Georgian College.
He’s also been “one of the strongest supporters” of the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, according to former Barrie city council member Rob Warman, who helped create the Oro-Medonte Township facility during his 21 years on council.
“He built the first hangar at the airport,” said Warman, who, like Massie, was an honorary colonel at Canadian Forces Base Borden. “He created Operation Hero (which supports families of Canadian Forces personnel with college and university tuition) and has always supported the military.
“Jamie has always been cool, calm and collected, and pursued his ambitions with determination and dedication. And he’s always acknowledged those who have helped him along the way," Warman added.
As head honcho of Georgian International, which employs hundreds of people in companies that include Georgian Air, Georgian International Land Corporation, Georgian Automotive and Georgian Hospitality, Massie’s office overlooks the downtown and beautiful Kempenfelt Bay.
One wall of his office features photos of prominent Canadians, including prime ministers and other familiar faces, and memorabilia that have helped shape the man he has become.
Much of that wall has to do with his love and respect of Canada’s military. His father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War as an airman in the Royal Air Force, flying dozens of missions over Europe.
His grandfather lost a leg at the Battle of Vimy Ridge during the First World War.
The Borden Legacy Monument — unveiled in 2016 and a tribute to the men and women who have trained at CFB Borden for more than 100 years — was the brainchild of Massie, who is quick to downplay his role in the monument’s creation, instead thanking a supportive community for making it happen.
As he recounts from memory some of the phrases on the monument, his eyes begin to well up.
“Through these gates the sons and daughters of a grateful nation pass, serving Canada with honour, duty and courage so all may live with freedom democracy and justice,” he said.
Former Barrie Examiner sports editor Gene Pereira has known Massie for almost 30 years.
"For as long as I have known Jamie, the one thing that has stood out is his love for the city of Barrie,” Pereira said. “His continued support of everything local, from sports to the RVH and beyond comes from that special affection and the gratitude he has for a community he says has given him so much growing up.”
Massie’s wife, Wendy, and sons Andrew, Jamie (named after his grandfather), Jeffrey and Alex are important to him, says longtime Barrie journalist Donna Douglas.
“He is an incredible asset to Barrie,” she said. “Whether it’s momentum to build the Barrie Molson Centre, the vision to lead the development of the entrance gate to Borden to honour individual military personnel, the energy behind the Barrie Colts, the unique concept for a family-to-family rural subdivision (Braestone in Oro-Medonte Township)… it goes on and on.
“Whatever Jamie chooses to do, he does it incredibly well; we can always count on that," Douglas added. "He is generous, humble and gracious and his word is his contract. Barrie is so lucky.”
"For him, it's been a special place to raise his family and he wants to ensure it is for others today and in the future,” Pereira added.
Massie is not one to toot his own horn when it comes to his contributions to the city.
“We can talk about philanthropy in different ways, but when you give your time, your mind and your energy to make something happen, to me that is more important than giving your money,” he said. “What makes our community great is that we have a sense of responsibility to its history and to its place in this nation.
"Barrie is an important city that plays a big role because we typify what it takes to be Canadian.”
The epitaph on the late J.C. Massie’s gravestone could also apply to his son Jamie: ‘He served his country, he gave to his community and loved his family’.
