Brampton Board of Trade happy with Peel dissolution but watches for hidden costs

Brampton | Caledon | Mississauga | Business | Politics |

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Published May 24, 2023 at 6:41 pm

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, left. attending a Q-and-A with members of the Brampton Board of Trade.

Make no bones about it – the Brampton Board of Trade was happy when the Province announced it would be dissolving Peel Region in the future, leaving Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon as stand-alone municipalities.

The group recently noted, “In its recent Business Confidence Index survey, only one in five business respondents felt well-informed or well-served by the two-tier (municipal-regional) system.”

However, they are expressing caution over hidden costs and potential set-backs for the businesses they represent.

They noted, “On behalf of Brampton business owners, the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT) will monitor dissolution proceedings carefully, with two primary areas of concern: How will the cost of doing business be impacted? How will the health and well-being of their staff/workers be impacted?”

“At the surface,” the board continued, “there is concern that political interests don’t always align with economic ones. BBOT will be watching very carefully how new governance is established and paid for. The official Ontario media release states a provincial transition board are expected to make recommendations in the coming months, to be enacted on January 1, 2025.”

Topping their list of concerns is currently shared services, such as road infrastructure, debt re-apportionment and even police and paramedic services.

The group noted that currently Peel, as a region, has accumulated $1.4 billion in net outstanding debt for growth-related infrastructure. 

They added they’ll be watching to assure the municipalities “apportion the debt to match ownership of assets, with the assumption that the province will not cover the debt.”

With Peel currently in control of funding, maintenance, repair, and construction of regional and municipal roads, the BBOT said as a solo municipality, “Brampton faces challenges due to its rapid growth and will require funding for road expansion.”

While each municipality has their own fire services, policing are shared. The BBOT suggested, “A new Police Service Board may be established, charging annual fees to Mississauga and Brampton. Fair and administratively efficient methods for determining each municipality’s fee should be explored.” 

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