Majority of residents support keeping Peel Region intact at Brampton town hall

Yorkregion.com
May 6, 2019
Graeme Frisque

Mississauga wants a divorce from the Region of Peel, while a majority of Bramptonians want to stick it out.

That was the message from residents who spoke or weighed in online during a town-hall meeting Saturday (May 4) at Brampton city hall regarding the province’s ongoing regional governance review and the future of the 45-year regional partnership between Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon.

The meeting was sparsely attended with roughly 30 residents on hand. Several people delegated to members of council, mostly in support of maintaining the region as is. Others submitted questions and/or comments via social meeting and a Facebook Live feed throughout the hour-and-a-half meeting.

At a similar town hall meeting on April 8, Mississauga residents were mostly in support of a motion in principle passed by their council in March asking the province to grant Mississauga its independence from the region.

The province is currently conducting an extensive review of regional governance affecting 82 upper-and-lower tier municipalities across the province, and will decide Peel’s fate later this year.

Caledon council recently cast its support behind maintaining the region.

Residents in Brampton on Saturday were similarly asked to provide their input and thoughts on what they felt would be the best outcome for Brampton -- dissolving the Region of Peel, amalgamating Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon into one super city, or keeping things as they are.

“I’ve always believed in a stronger Brampton and a stronger region. And with that, I just want to say I’m supporting us staying with the Region of Peel,” Brampton resident Curtis Grant told members of council, while adding he’d also like to see the region become more efficient.

“For me, I think the dissolution is respectfully silly,” said another resident, Mario Russo. “Anyone that has unfortunately gone through a divorce knows there is a cost to that,”

Russo also raised concerns about Brampton losing its identity should the province opt for amalgamating Peel into one large city -- concerns that were shared by some others who delegated.

A couple of those who spoke were in favour of granting Mississauga its long-sought independence, but most were in support of maintaining the status quo.

Sylvia Roberts, a resident who speaks at council regularly, said she was concerned about sharing Mississauga’s debt and paying for projects on Caledon’s wish list.

Similar results were seen during a telephone town hall on April 24 that 5,000 Brampton residents participated in, with two-thirds of respondents in support of keeping the region as is. Brampton council provided the town hall survey results at its regular meeting on May 1.

Among respondents, 66 per cent of Bramptonians wanted to keep things as is. Twenty-eight per cent wished to see the Region of Peel amalgamate into a single large City of Peel, while only six per cent were in favour of dissolution.

The potential cost to taxpayers was the most important parameter among respondents at 47 per cent. Twenty-nine per cent listed fair and full representation, with 18 per cent citing streamlining of services as their top priority.

Only six per cent of respondents saw “independence and stronger self-identity” as their top priority.

Peel Region council is awaiting the results of an independent review by Ernst & Young of all four municipalities’ books, as well as the potential financial implications involved in all three eventualities the province could settle on.

An earlier report by Deloitte Canada -- which Mississauga called into question -- showed dissolution and amalgamation would be the costliest option for taxpayers in all three cities, while maintaining the region as is would be the cheapest.

Brampton council said it will provide all comments and public survey results to the province’s review team as part of the city’s submission later this month.

Residents can weigh in online on the city’s website at www.brampton.ca until May 13.