The City of Barrie has announced that it’s temporarily laying off a portion of its workforce as a result of COVID-19. The city is temporarily laying off 470 part-time theatre and recreation staff, as well as part-time transit clerks. “The downtown transit terminal is closed,” said Scott LaMantia, a city spokesperson. “They would be the ones that would be selling the passes.
Transit is free right now, so there’s no need for them at this point.” Barrie CAO Michael Prowse said the decision to lay off staff members wasn’t taken lightly. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] “These are truly unprecedented times, and the city is faced with tough choices of how we operate during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Prowse