Brampton mayor would be ‘surprised’ if topic of Peel dissolution comes up again
Published December 28, 2023 at 11:29 am
In his final press conference of the year, Brampton mayor Patrick Brown said he would be surprised if the idea to split Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon from Peel Region is brought up again.
Brown repeated his stance that it was the right choice for the province to reverse its decision on the split, saying it would have been “financially disastrous” and would’ve brought high tax increases and impacted services for residents of all three municipalities.
“I’d be surprised if it comes up again, it would be foolish if it did,” Brown said when asked about the possibility of the split being proposed again in the future.
“When the original people that advocated for this proposal have walked away from it, it would be almost absurd to see anyone try to bring it up again. It was a waste of staff time and resources.”
Brown named former Mississauga city manager and Region of Peel CAO Janice Baker as an example, saying that she was initially for the split before later opposing it.
News that the province wouldn’t be breaking up the Region of Peel was met with a round of applause in Brampton City Council earlier this month, with Brown saying that the City had “averted disaster.”
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However, Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie remains optimistic that the Peel split will still happen, albeit not now.
“This isn’t the end of our path to independence; it’s simply a bump in the road,” Crombie said at Mississauga City Hall on Dec. 13.
“While this isn’t the announcement I was hoping for, I want to acknowledge the premier and minister could have chosen to completely walk away from dissolution today, but they chose not to because deep down I know they share our collective commitment to ensuring that local government runs efficiently and effectively and that our taxpayers get a fair deal.”
Crombie blamed the province scrapping the split on what she called “scare tactics and fear mongering” from the Brampton mayor, and maintains that Brown’s assertions that a Peel breakup would cost taxpayers $1.3 billion over 10 years are unfounded.
With files from Ryan Rumbolt and Declan Finucane
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