‘No reason to keep that report secret’: Brampton disappointed over province's governance review confidentiality

Minister told Ontario mayors and councillors at AMO conference report would be 'confidential cabinet advice'

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 24, 2019
Graeme Frisque

The Ford government review of regional governance is ongoing, but according to members of Brampton council the public may never get to see the results.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and wards 2 and 6 regional Coun. Michael Palleschi said they’ve been told by the province the expert findings of the review will be kept confidential.

Premier Doug Ford announced in January his government had appointed municipal experts Michael Fenn and Ken Seiling to review 82 upper and lower-tier municipalities across the province including the Region of Peel, made up of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

Among other things, the review will determine if Ontario’s eight regions and Simcoe County will amalgamate, dissolve or remain as is.

“I was disappointed to hear that the advisers would not be making their recommendations public (and that) it would be confidential. I would have thought that those recommendation would be public,” Palleschi told council earlier this month.

Palleschi provided the Brampton Guardian with a video clip from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference hosted in Ottawa Aug 18-21. In the clip, he asked minister of municipal affairs and housing Steven Clark whether the findings would be made public and available to municipalities before or after the province makes its decision.

Palleschi, whose question drew applause from the large gathering of Ontario municipal leaders, also expressed his frustrations with the province delaying its decision from August to November after the federal election.

“I want to take my time. The recommendations will be presented as confidential advice to cabinet. I’m going to take my time, as I’ve said many times in the past, to review it with my cabinet colleagues,” answered Clark.

“I am very hopeful that we’ll have those recommendations and the path forward this fall. That’s my plan. That’s what I’ve said, I haven’t changed my mind. That’s the way we’re going to move forward,” he added.

Mayor Brown, who has also been critical of the province’s decision to force municipalities to wait on its decision about their futures, said he was also told the expert findings and recommendations wouldn’t be released to the public.

“I actually asked for that early on. When I met with the advisers I asked, ‘will your report be made public?’ and they said ‘that’s not part of our mandate. Our mandate is to make the report in confidence to the minister’. Which I found peculiar at the time as well.”

“I think full transparency is always in the best interest of government and the public, and there’s no reason that report should be kept secret,” added Brown.

The ministry of municipal affairs and housing said it received over 8,500 submission through the consultation process and the advisers attended nine in-person sessions.

“The outcomes of the review are not predetermined,” ministry spokesperson Praveen Senthinathan said in an email. “At this time, we have not yet received the final report.”

Brampton and Caledon councils both cast their support behind maintaining the current governance structure as is, while Mississauga council has asked the province for its independence from Peel Region.