Mississauga residents voice concerns over process city is using to separate from Peel

13 presentations made to special advisers

Yorkregion.com
May 10, 25019
Marta Marychuk

While there is some support for Mississauga becoming a single city, there is staunch opposition from some residents who feel the process the city is using is flawed and undemocratic.

Thirteen people, representing either themselves or organizations, made presentations to Michael Fenn and Ken Seiling, the special advisers appointed by the province to gather local input on ways to improve governance, decision-making and service delivery for regional governments and municipalities.

The advisers were in Brampton on Wednesday (May 8) to hear from residents in Peel.

“Our hearts are in alignment with our calculators,” said Joe Horneck, a Mississauga resident. He said Mississauga is over-contributing $85 million a year to subsidize Brampton and Caledon, which works out to $342 per household.

Mississauga is the third largest city in Ontario and sixth largest in Canada, Horneck added, the same size as many standalone cities in the United States.

However, Mississauga Residents’ Association Network (MIRANET) Chair Sue Shanly said they were concerned by the lack of unbiased information the City of Mississauga is using to support becoming a single city.

Shanly said the report the city is using is based on information that is 16 years old.

Dorothy Tomiuk, of Mississauga, added there are “serious problems” with the public process Mississauga is using.

On March 20, the mayor and council passed a motion requesting the Ontario government pass legislation to make Mississauga an independent city, without any prior public consultation, Tomiuk added.

But the most scathing comments came from Dr. Kulvinder Gill, a Mississauga physician, who told the advisers she had “grave concerns” about the process Mississauga is using to separate from the Region of Peel.

“They (mayor and council) claim to speak for me,” said Gill. “In actuality, they speak for themselves.”

Gill said there was no referendum done to find out what residents wanted, and Mississauga council started an “undemocratic campaign” to be a single city before any community consultation was done.

The Mississauga Town Hall meeting presented a “one-sided position” and was based on a “deeply flawed corporate report” from 2013 that was updated by city staff, Gill added.

Fenn said information gathered from the public consultations will be submitted to the provincial government in July and they will determine the next steps in the process. “We haven’t formed any opinions,” Fenn added.