Premier Doug Ford isn't ruling out possibility of amalgamating Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon into ‘City of Peel’

Thestar.com
Feb. 16, 2023
Graeme Frisque

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he "believes" in Mississauga and Brampton becoming independent cities separate from Peel Region, but didn't rule out possibly amalgamating the region into a "City of Peel."

The premier was in Brampton to make an announcement on Wednesday, Feb. 15, and was asked by reporters if he would “rule out” the possibility of amalgamation.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth up in Caledon, we’ve seen tremendous growth in Brampton and Mississauga. But I’ve always been a believer they should be standalone (cities).

However, Ford didn’t rule out possible amalgamation with the province undertaking a review of regional municipal governance this year.

“This is a conversation that we’re going to have with the mayors and the region, along with our Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clarke. And then we’ll all sit down collectively and make that decision,” the premier added.

Wards 9 and 10 Brampton Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor attended the announcement and was asked about the city’s position on amalgamation.

“Brampton doesn’t have an official position on this, but we do look forward to working with the Ford government, with the premier and with Minister Steve Clark to see the review that they will be undertaking this year,” Toor told reporters.

“Of course, we will be advocating for a fair share for Brampton whether we stay in the current structure or we amalgamate as a bigger city. We do need to make sure that residents of Brampton are treated fairly when it comes to services,” he said. “Every single step of the way, we hope we can work with the facilitator the premier would be appointing.”

When asked a similar question during his state of city address on Feb. 7, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said he supports the province looking for efficiencies, and possibly eliminating overlap at the regional and municipal levels. But added he didn’t “want to get ahead of ourselves in terms of the process that the province is undertaking.

“We do need to find ways to deliver services more efficiently. I welcome the fact that the province is looking at ways to create more investment and build more housing supply,” he added, without saying whether he supported amalgamation or not.

While Brampton council doesn’t have a position on amalgamation, its counterpart in Mississauga has steadfastly come out against amalgamation. Last year, Mississauga council passed a resolution to ask the province for its independence from Peel Region and to operate as a standalone city.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie put forward a successful resolution during council’s Feb. 15 meeting to reaffirm that position in a letter to be sent to Ford, Clark, members of provincial parliament and the provincially appointed facilitator.

“Number 1, (amalgamation) doesn’t address the underlying issues that currently exist. It would mean that we’re continuing to subsidize our regional partners, Brampton in particular, with their growth and policing,” she told council.

"We would lose our identity. We are Mississauga and we’re proudly Mississauga. We’re ’Sauga first. We don’t want to be a City of Peel and we don’t want to absorb Brampton. They have their own identity and God bless them that they’re very proud of being Brampton. We’re very proud of being Mississauga,” she added.

Caledon council hasn’t yet taken an official position on the province’s review, but in 2019, the previous council under former mayor Allan Thompson supported maintaining Peel Region and two-tiered government.