‘I don’t think the residents of Mississauga think I’m whining,” Crombie tells Premier
Published January 12, 2023 at 11:10 am
Mayor Bonnie Crombie says she’s confident Mississauga residents believe she’s standing up for them and not “whining” when she voices opposition to the provincial government’s controversial new housing legislation.
In an Instagram interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura this week, the mayor of Canada’s seventh-largest city dismissed Premier Doug Ford’s earlier publicly-offered suggestion that she and other municipal leaders “stop whining” and “get on board” with Bill 23.
Crombie and other mayors across Ontario have said that the new housing law that eliminates and freezes some developer fees to municipalities will force them to raise property taxes in order to pay for infrastructure that supports new housing.
“I don’t think the residents of Mississauga think I’m whining. I think they believe I’m standing up for their interests. In fact, I’m doing my job by revealing issues that have a negative impact on our city and that’s my job to do that,” said Crombie, who’s also incoming chair of the Ontario Big City Mayors.
“Much of the legislation that is being proposed will have a significant detrimental effect to the finances of municipalities…so it’s not just Mississauga, it’s all of us at risk.”
In voicing her and Mississauga city council’s opposition to the housing bill and its anticipated impact, Crombie said she’s speaking on behalf of Mississauga taxpayers, “because it’s their taxes that could increase.
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“I think Mississauga residents appreciate when I stand up and speak out when there is legislation being proposed that would detrimentally impact our city, our quality of life and particularly our property tax rates.”
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