Municipal politics at play: restructuring Peel regional council

NRU
June 29, 2016
By Leah Wong

While Peel Region council has selected its preferred option to rejig its composition, it needs the support of its three lowertier municipalities to implement any change in governance structure. At the heart of the debate is determining the weight that should be given to representation by population versus representation by geographic area in the distribution of seats.

At regional council Th ursday a majority of regional councillors voted to expand council from 24 to 28 seats, giving Mississauga and Brampton four new councillors each and maintaining Caledon’s fi ve. Mississauga presently has 12 seats and Brampton has seven.

Caledon Wards 3 and 4 regional councillor Jennifer Innis told council that the 28-member council provides greater representation for Brampton, allows Mississauga to maintain 50 per cent of the seats and preserves eff ective representation for Caledon.

While Caledon and Brampton regional councillors all voted in favour of the proposed composition, Mississauga regional councillors all voted in the negative. Mississauga council advocates maintain the 24-councillor structure, but adjusting the balance of seats so Brampton has nine and Caledon has three.

“We’ve come today to say that we agree that [Brampton] needs more representation,” Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie told regional council. “We’re willing to give [Brampton] two [more] councillors but that does not warrant Caledon staying at five.”

Mississauga’s support is required if regional council is to change its composition. Under the Municipal Act Peel needs a triple majority to revise the composition of council. Regional solicitor Patrick O’Connor told council that in addition to requiring a majority vote at regional council, two out of three lower-tier councils must approve the composition. As well, the municipalities supporting the new structure must together represent a majority of electors in Peel. In other words, a vote in the negative by Mississauga council would veto regional council’s decision.

Crombie said that based on current numbers, Brampton’s population does not justify four additional councillors. Population forecasts from Hemson Consulting suggest that there are about 1.4-million people living in Peel Region - 756,000 in Mississauga, 577,000 in Brampton and 72,000 in Caledon.

“[Brampton] you will get the representation you need when it’s deserved, but we can’t give representation based on hypothetical growth numbers that may or may not happen,” said Crombie. “When you get that growth we will give you the representation.”

Brampton Wards 9 and 10 regional councillor John Sprovieri told council that given the growth presently happening across Brampton extra councillors are justifi ed. He noted that all wards are experiencing growth and this creates additional work for councillors.

“From a sensible point of view, Brampton should get 11 [seats on regional council] because of the growth we are experiencing today. And [the growth] is going to be going on for another 15 years,” said Sprovieri.

Sprovieri also suggested that giving Brampton 11 seats would allow the mayor and all of its councillors to serve on regional council. Presently Brampton voters elect a mayor, five city councillors and fi ve regional councillors and Brampton council appoints one of the city councillors to fill its seventh regional council seat.

“It would make it a lot easier for us to govern at the city level. Having this two-tiered system at the city creates a lot of animosity,” said Sprovieri. “We have to appoint one [extra] member to sit here and it’s not healthy for the council.”

Crombie suggested that if Brampton’s two-tier system is not working than its council has the option to rejig its own ward boundaries or adopt a model similar to Mississauga’s, in which councillors are elected to both regional and city councils. While Brampton wants to ensure future growth is taken into account, Caledon councillors suggest that representation by area should be taken into account when determining the composition of regional council.

“We have to look at what is a balance and what is fair for our municipalities. Representing our area, where there is 56 per cent of [Peel’s] land mass take a lot of work,” Caledon mayor Allan Thompson told regional council. He noted that Caledon plays a vital role in protecting the region’s watershed and managing aggregate needed for construction in Mississauga and Brampton. “Th ere are a lot of things we all share.”

Caledon Ward 1 regional councillor Barb Shaughnessy noted that both the federal and provincial governments recognize representation by area when determining riding boundaries. Th ere are ridings that have lower populations but cover a larger geographic area.

Shaughnessy told regional council that because of its large geographic area Caledon needs “a bit more skin in the game.” She suggested that taking seats away from Caledon would make it difficult for the town to accomplish anything at regional council and it would place a hardship on the town.

“Caledon, through the years, has had to work with Brampton and Mississauga because we could not win [votes] with just five councillors,” said Shaughnessy. “But by working across the aisle we work together much better.”

Mississauga Ward 5 councillor Carolyn Parrish noted that even if Caledon’s representation would be reduced to three seats it would still be overrepresented. She noted that as of the 2011 census there were more than 79,000 people living in her ward, while the population of Caledon was 62,000.

“If you looked at representation by population [only] you would take Caledon down to one seat, or part of one seat. But we don’t do these things here,” Parrish told council. She said the structure Mississauga is proposing would give Caledon seats for two regional councillors and the mayor.

Crombie said that allowing Caledon to have a higher number of seats would dilute the value of voters in Mississauga and Brampton. She reminded council that Mississauga presently contributes 60 per cent of the fi nancial base to the region.

“Unfortunately [Caledon] you’re overrepresented on this council and the reality is that my voters and taxpayers and Brampton voters and taxpayers are undervalued and underrepresented as a result,” said Crombie.

She predicted that the proposal to add eight councillors to regional council would add about $2-million to the region’s operating budget and noted that she can’t justify this added cost to her taxpayers.

Brampton mayor Linda Jeff rey reminded council that its window of opportunity to fi x the representation imbalance in time for the next municipal election is closing. Brampton has waited long enough for its representation to be increased. She said it will consider other action if a decision is delayed.

“It’s been long enough for Brampton. We’ve been diplomatic and tried to get along but we’re not going to do this anymore,” said Jeff rey. “Either we get 11 seats or we will take other action.

We want a fair decision to be reached on this matter.” Consistent with provincial legislation, Peel council will hold a public meeting to consider a draft a by-law altering council’s composition once authorized by municipal affairs minister Bill Mauro. Following the public meeting the three local councils will vote on the proposed regional structure.