Hot topic of Peel split will be discussed again at Mississauga council meeting
Published December 12, 2023 at 2:38 pm
Representatives from several social services agencies and advocacy groups in Peel and a public health nurse are among those who have signed up to address Mississauga city council on Wednesday morning about the potential impact of dissolving Peel Region.
Considered a done deal via the Hazel McCallion Act of earlier this year and scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, the political split of Peel and its member municipalities Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon gained unexpected headlines last week with media reports that Premier Doug Ford was getting cold feet and considering reversing his earlier decision to allow the municipal breakup.
The week also saw Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and her Brampton counterpart Patrick Brown butt heads publicly over the ongoing Peel split. Crombie has said she’ll leave Canada’s seventh-largest city in early January to take the reins full-time of the Ontario Liberal Party after winning her party leadership bid two weeks ago — but first she plans to deal with Mississauga’s budget and now a renewed push to get the Peel divorce done.
Brown, meanwhile, has gone public on several occasions in the past week or so to insist that the dissolution of Peel is a bad financial idea for Brampton and the other two municipalities as well.
Crombie and Mississauga officials have fiercely pushed back, asserting dissolution is the best path forward for all, as concluded by the most credible report to date on the matter.
A provincially appointed transition board has been immersed in Region of Peel business for several months now in an effort to determine the best way to complete the dissolution deal.
Videos
It’s expected to soon report back to Premier Ford.
In the meantime, officials with Our Place Peel (supports homeless and at-risk youth) and Peel Senior Link (supports for older adults) are scheduled to make a deputation to Mississauga city council first thing Wednesday morning.
They’re expected to speak about the impact of Peel dissolution on Mississauga residents, as they see it.
Representatives from the Peel Poverty Action Group, Indus Community Services (settlement services for newcomers) and Region of Peel TransHelp (specialized public transit for those unable to otherwise get to appointments) will also speak before council about the impending municipal split and its potential impact on the community.
A representative from a Brampton long-term care home and a public health nurse will address councillors about the current climate and how it’s impacting jobs and stress levels.
Crombie and Mississauga officials have forcefully disputed Brown’s notion that the breakup of Peel’s three municipalities will cost taxpayers $1.3 billion over 10 years.
Mississauga’s third-term mayor claims Brown is basing his information on a 2019 consultant’s report that was purposely skewed toward keeping Peel and its member municipalities intact.
Mayors Patrick Brown and Bonnie Crombie have disagreed from the outset on Peel dissolution.