Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown focuses on investment, jobs in his first State of City address

Thestar.com
Feb. 6, 2019
Graeme Frisque

Local jobs and economic development were front and centre in Patrick Brown’s first State of the City address as Brampton mayor this week.

Brown gave the annual mayor’s update at the Brampton Board of Trade’s annual mayor’s luncheon hosted Tuesday at the Millennium Gardens Banquet Centre in Brampton.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown gave his first State of the City address on Tuesday the city’s business leaders.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown gave his first State of the City address on Tuesday the city’s business leaders.  (Riziero Vertolli / Metroland)

“We need more investment in our city. We can’t allow Brampton to become a bedroom community, and I want to assure you that council is aggressively focused on economic development issues,” he told the enthusiastic, sold-out crowd.

“I can tell you, my No. 1 priority is bringing jobs and investment to our city. Brampton means business,” added the mayor.

Using the city’s 2040 Vision as a jumping-off point, Brown said Brampton’s population grew by 70,000 between 2011 and 2016. The city is now home to more than 600,000 residents and the mayor expects that trend to continue.

The city’s 2040 Vision, which was implemented by the previous council under former mayor Linda Jeffrey, aims to bring 300,000 new residents and 140,000 new jobs to the city over the next 21 years. Currently, the Brown said 60 per cent of the city’s population works outside the city and he’d like to see that number come down.

 “The number and right kind of jobs suiting our residents, our education, our skills (and) our preferences are simply not available within Brampton’s borders, and that’s what we’re determined to change,” said Brown, adding he believes Canada’s ninth-largest city is well-positioned to meet those goals.

The mayor highlighted the city’s diverse and educated population, available development land and Brampton’s central location in the GTA as the city’s strongest assets, and he thinks those qualities can help bring investment to the city from around the world.

In order to help facilitate that, Brown identified some of the initiatives his new council has already implemented including a new expediter and economic development office, weekly “corporate calls” to existing employers and a focus on promoting the city abroad.

“We need to be globally competitive. We need to embrace technological disruptions, we need to understand the demands for talent and human resources (and) we must deliver services and programs that support talent development,” he said.

Brown also talked about the importance of public transit in the future, and said council and staff are looking to the federal and provincial government to be active partners in funding the city’s growing infrastructure demands.

Comparing funding Brampton has received for major transit and health-care projects to that other cities and regions like Mississauga, Scarborough and York Region have gotten over the years, Brown said it’s time for “Brampton to receive its fair share” and promised council would lobby both the feds and province to that end.

“I’ve been a little bit, obviously, critical and less than optimistic when it comes to our funding right now from our partners in government at the provincial and federal levels, but I’m actually really optimistic about the City of Brampton,” Brown said.