Vaughan’s mayor ‘determined’ to bring city a university despite sharp cuts

3 satellite post-secondary campuses already cancelled by Ford government in hopes of reducing Ontario's deficit

Yorkregion.com
December 21, 2018
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Vaughan mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua is "determined" to make his city the “first” in York Region to have a university despite sharp cuts by the Progressive Conservative provincial government.

The province, vowing to reduce the province's $15-billion deficit, scrapped three satellite post-secondary campuses in Markham, Brampton and Milton in late October.

On Nov. 15, Premier Doug Ford’s government also halted plans for Toronto's first ever French-language university.

But the sky’s the limit for Bevilacqua, who has been Vaughan's mayor since 2010.

“It is a project I have been personally working on for a while,” said Bevilacqua, who won a third term at the helm this fall.

“I am committed to making sure that we get a university in our city during this term of office,” he added during an interview at his office.

The veteran politician, who has been in public life for about 30 years including time as a Liberal MP, is “determined” about his bid while acknowledging “the provincial government is cutting and cancelling projects.”

“I am still going to find a way to bring a university here,” Bevilacqua, 58, said. “Yes, these are times one must be creative and resourceful.”

“My approach to governing is rooted in hope and optimism, and so far it has worked extremely well for the citizens of our city,” he added without delving into details in terms of finances and how he'd make it happen.

What appears to be propelling the mayor's attitude are his past achievements.

“When I ran for mayor in 2010, I made sure that the hospital was going to be built, and that’s done, and that the subway was going to be handled properly, and that was done, and now my next new project is going to be a university and I want to deliver on that,” he said.

The Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital, slated to open in December 2020, is currently being built on a 25-hectare property on the northwest corner of Jane Street and
Major Mackenzie Drive. It will cost about $1.2 billion.

To make the hospital a reality, the Mackenzie Health Foundation launched a $250-million fundraising campaign, which the mayor described as the “largest in the country."

“We are at $113 million already after a year and a half (of launch), which is very good,” he said.

Priding himself for bringing the motion that tax increases should “never exceed three per cent,” which was later adopted by York Region, he also touted the fact his city has the only subway outside Toronto, and will have a hospital that is “going to be the first smart technology hospital in Canada.”

During the interview, the mayor often referred to a display board showing that 55,000 new jobs have been created in Vaughan since 2010, and that the city is a “net importer of jobs,” employing 218,020 people, well in excess of its labour force of 169,220.

“There are very few cities across the country and North America that have these statistics,” he said adding that Vaughan since 2010 had $10 billion in building permits.

An art centre, stadium?

On top of his ambitious university project, the mayor, a father of two, wants more add-ons including a performing arts centre and a stadium.

“We need to find a way to bring performing arts centre here in the city, I also believe that a stadium will be good to attract professional sports,” he said, adding that the multi-purpose stadium “must match the size of the city, the wealth and conditions of the city.”

Low election turnout

When asked about the October municipal election's low voter turnout, Bevilacqua remained positive.

“The people out there are happy with the manner which the government is being managed,” he said.

Most Vaughan’s incumbent councillors were re-elected, with the exception of Sunder Singh, who was there one year to fill in for Michael Di Biase, who stepped down following a report he sexually harassed a city employee.

Singh, who was appointed to fill Di Biase's seat, ran for re-election but was bested by Linda Jackson, the former mayor of Vaughan who served before
Bevilacqua and whose four-year term was filled with controversy.

At one point, Jackson faced calls for her resignation from her fellow councillors, some of whom will now have to work with her.

Jackson declined a request to speak with York Region Media Group.

Asked about Jackson’s re-resurgence, Bevilacqua said Vaughan “is not the city she left, it was run very differently."

“I run a professional organization and you can tell,” he said. “It will take a bit of a time and not long to familiarize herself with the new professional style of governance that exists in the city of Vaughan, I am sure she will do her job well.”