Mississauga council votes in favour of ward boundary review
Last ward boundary review was in 2004

MississaugaNews.com
Oct. 15, 2017
Rachael Williams

The City of Mississauga will review its ward boundaries in preparation for the 2022 election.

Councillors voted in favour of the review following three weeks of debating how unprecedented population growth in parts of the city could impact office expense budgets.

“This isn’t about office budgets itself. This is about votes. This is about what’s fair. And this is about being treated equally,” said Ward 7 Coun. Nando Iannicca, who unsuccessfully put forward a motion on Sept. 27 requesting staff review office budgets based on ward population.

Iannicca’s ward boundaries cover Cooksville and part of the downtown core, which is expected to see an additional 56,000 residents by 2041. He argued this would create a serious imbalance in existing ward populations and sizes and distort voter parity. In addition, he said the cost to communicate to these residents through newsletter distribution and public meeting notices would skyrocket.

Councillors shot down the request, arguing the roughly $30,000 annual expense allotment was more than sufficient. This does not include the $22,000 councillors receive at the Region of Peel for their four-year term.

Unhappy with the decision, Andrew Gassmann, president of the Cooksville Munden Park Homeowners Association, pleaded with councillors to reconsider during an Oct. 11 deputation.

“This is an equity issue and seems to be a long-standing one,” he said. “While fiscal prudence is noteworthy, it shouldn’t be done at the expense of notifying residents of an important issue.”

Unconvinced by Gassmann's presentation to reopen the office budget debate, councillors voted instead to direct staff to conduct an official ward boundary review.

“I agree downtown ward boundaries should be examined, but not expense accounts,” said Coun. Pat Saito, who experienced the same budgetary challenges when Lisgar, Central Erin Mills and Churchill Meadows experienced rapid population growth in the 1990s and early 2000s.

It was this growth that spurred the last ward boundary review in 2004. Two additional wards were added in the city’s northwest to ensure political representation was reflective of population size.

The creation of wards 10 and 11 were the first additions since Mississauga’s inception in 1974. There was a ward boundary realignment in 1991, decided at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

Mayor Bonnie Crombie supported the move for staff to undertake the review, saying there’s nothing wrong with looking at the data.

Where the issue get complicated is at the Region of Peel. The City of Brampton has been pushing for additional seats at the regional level, claiming its booming population growth warrants greater representation. But Mississauga has shut down any attempt to add more politicians to the table.

“We are not going to spend taxpayers hard-earned money on more politicians,” Crombie has stated in previous interviews.

If Mississauga were to carve out another ward and add a councillor at the city and the region, it could be a tough sell in Brampton and Caledon. Brampton's population is expected to see more rapid growth than Mississauga, hitting approximately one million by 2051. Based on representation by population, that would mean Brampton should technically have more seats at the table than its Peel counterpart, which would signal an unprecedented shift in the balance of power.

A panel of citizens, municipal councillors and subject experts will be created to provide input on proposed boundaries prior to the 2022 municipal election.

As part of the ward boundary review, staff will also provide alternatives to how newsletters are funded, which could include redirecting the cost from councillors’ expense budgets to the city’s operating budget.