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Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie lays out case for separating from Peel Region

Thestar.com
May 1, 2019
Gilbert Ngabo

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie Mississauga says she remains hopeful the provincial government will grant her city’s wish to break free from Peel Region.

Crombie told the Star’s editorial board Tuesday that she has met with two provincial special advisers -- former deputy minister and CEO of Metrolinx Michael Fenn, and former chair of Waterloo Region Ken Seiling -- who were appointed earlier this year to lead a review of Ontario regional governments.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie says separating from Peel would allow her city to focus on its own priorities rather than those of the region.

She said Premier Doug Ford has said “some positive things” about how not one size will fit all. There are regions that want to amalgamate, and others that are fine with the status quo. Mississauga wants none of that.

“It doesn’t work for us. We overcontribute. It’s all pay no save. It is broken,” she said, listing cities of Mississauga’s size or smaller that are governed independently -- Ottawa, Windsor, London, Guelph, Hamilton, Barrie and Thunder Bay among others.

“We’re just asking for what they have, the ability to control our own destiny.”

Peel Region is made up of three municipalities: Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. The Peel regional council comprises 24 members (12 from Mississauga, seven from Brampton, five from Caledon) plus the chair.

Crombie called this representation “fundamentally unfair,” noting for example that Caledon’s population is about 70,000, nearly an average of one ward in Mississauga, which has a population of nearly 800,000. She also doesn’t like that that in addition to this, Mississauga contributes roughly $85 million a year to subsidize Brampton and Caledon.

Mississauga contributes around 60 per cent of the cost to run Peel government.

Going solo, according to Crombie, would help avoid duplication that tends to happen when operating under two levels of government. When there’s a road that needs fixing, there can be an overlap between city transportation staff and regional road crews, she said.

She noted, however, that some of the existing regional departments and services don’t need to change if and when separation happens -- such as the Peel Regional Police, or the wastewater and garbage collection programs, which are already contracted out.

If the separation movement is successful, Crombie says it will allow Mississauga to focus on its own priorities rather than those of the region. She said her city is focused on creating more housing for middle-income families, incentivizing commercial industries to attract more economic investments and improving local public transit.

In March the City of Mississauga passed a motion asking the province to pass legislation that would allow it to become a single-tier municipality and independent from the region. The motion relied on an extensive city staff report that had analyzed the options and recommended a breakup.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown recently caused a stir when he suggested Mississauga would have to pay back “hundreds of millions” of dollars to the two other municipalities if it wanted to break out of the 45-year-old regional partnership.

Crombie insists that narrative is false, because Mississauga is the larger contributor to the region and the two other cities have benefited from its annual subsidies.

“He doesn’t have a case. It’s just being provocative maybe,” she said of Brown’s comments. “They’ve been contributing 30 cents on a dollar for the past 45 years, so the economics don’t work.”

Correction -- April 30, 2019: This article incorrectly stated Mississauga’s population. In addition, the article has been updated to reflect how much Mayor Crombie feels Mississauga over contributes to Peel.