Battle Brewing Between Brampton and Mississauga
Published April 11, 2016 at 4:35 am
Last week, Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie’s motion to examine the possibility of Sauga exiting the Region of Peel was approved by city council and it looks like Brampton mayor Linda Jeffrey has some objections.
According to a recent CityNews article, Jeffrey said that Mississauga’s growth is a direct result of its involvement in Peel (a region consisting of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and the contributions of billions of Brampton tax dollars. CityNews reports that in a statement from Jeffrey, Brampton’s mayor said the region is currently conducting a study on seat allocation and was not aware that Mississauga was intending to potentially pursue separation from Peel.
“We all recognize that there will inevitably be different perspectives and interests at stake but initiating a costly facilitation process while at the same time seeking to leave the Region is not only disingenuous, but a frivolous use of Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga taxpayer’s money,” Jeffrey said, as reported by CityNews.
To make matters more contentious, Jeffery said that, should Mississauga exit the region, Brampton would expect monetary compensation for its investments in the current regional system. She went even further, calling Crombie and Sauga’s move towards exiting a “cut and run” that’s coming when Brampton is in need of infrastructure investment.
While Jeffrey is reacting strongly to the news, the city’s desire to exit Peel is nothing new.
Former mayor Hazel McCallion pushed Queen’s Park to separate Sauga from its regional counterparts back in 2004, arguing that the city contributes more money to the region than its smaller neighbours and is simply too large to be part of a broader, two-tier system. There have also been frequent complaints regarding cost sharing, with some Mississauga city councillors arguing that the city shouldn’t be on the hook for paying for the maintenance of Caledon’s regional roads.
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As for Caledon, some politicians likely won’t be pleased with the development, as the city’s mayor recently called for the creation of a Peel-wide transit system — a call that both Crombie and Jeffrey are not in favor of.
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