Peel Region breakup puts Doug Ford’s housing goals at risk, says Brampton mayor

Patrick Brown said Tuesday thousands of housing units would not be built because of a lack of funding for the necessary infrastructure.

Thestar.com
June 7, 2023
Noor Javed

Negotiations to dissolve Peel region have yet to start, but Brampton fired the first shot Tuesday in its fight over the provincially imposed divorce by taking direct aim at the Ford government’s own ambitious housing goals.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said bluntly at a press conference that his city would be unable to meet the province’s mandated housing target of building 113,000 homes in the next eight years due to limits to sewage capacity -- and concerns around who will pay for necessary infrastructure after the region is split up.

“One of the unintended consequences of the dissolution of Peel is that you can see all of this come to a halt,” said Brown, flanked by displays showing four large housing projects that are currently stalled. “These are real projects right now that are at risk because in the (province’s) bill, there are no plans to pay for it.”

Peel dissolution legislation passes third reading
Last month, the province announced it was dissolving the two-tier government in Peel to create three stand-alone cities of Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga by Jan. 1, 2025. Brown’s remarks Tuesday came just hours before the Hazel McCallion Act -- the legislation that dissolves the region -- passed its third reading at Queen’s Park. It’s expected to become law later this week.

While Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie celebrated the split she has long championed, Brown has expressed concern that Brampton -- which is in the midst of a population and economic boom -- would be left on the hook for infrastructure costs that were once shared between the three cities.

The province didn’t provide any business case for the decision for the Peel split, but said it was a way to improve the “efficiency of local governments as they prepare for future growth, including by making good on their municipal housing pledges.”

But Brown’s comment Tuesday cast doubt on the province’s housing goals in the region.

Financial details of Peel breakup still unclear
The province has promised the cities will be supported through the separation, but the financial details are to be sorted out by a five person transition team that the province has yet to announce.

In a statement, Victoria Podbielski, spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said the government is “committed to a dissolution process for Peel Region that is fair for all residents.”

She said that the transition board will work “with each municipality and consider a range of important issues – including infrastructure issues and servicing – to provide recommendations to government on restructuring” to achieve an “equitable outcome.”

Thousands of housing units on hold due to servicing limitation
Brown said he held Tuesday’s event to show real examples of how the dissolution will impact the economic prosperity and development plans of his city. He said at least 9,000 units are now “on hold” due to current capacity limits, and a number of industrial projects are also stalled due to servicing limitations.

“When Mayor Crombie and the political leadership of Mississauga say they can just walk away and not have to pay for servicing, this is the consequence -- that housing and economic development come to a grinding halt and Ontario can’t afford that.”

Mississauga mayor accuses Patrick Brown of misinformation
In a statement Tuesday, Crombie said that Mississauga will “contribute where it is fair to do so,” but won’t pay for all of Brampton’s future growth. “Brampton is a city approaching 700,000 people, with a lot of land left to develop. Like all big cities, they should be able to manage their own growth,” she said.

She accused Brown of using misinformation to “scare people” by using “hypothetical units in areas of his city that are not part of the Region’s servicing plan to raise concerns,” and added that Brampton has “many areas that are already serviced where building can happen.”

“The reality is, Brampton can grow and meet its targets under the Region’s current infrastructure plan, if they follow it. If they are planning to build in areas that are not yet serviced or are not planned for servicing, that’s just irresponsible.”

Brampton mayor wants to know who’s going to pay
Brown said while the other two municipalities may have confidence that the provincial outcome will be equitable, he wants to know who’s going to pay for future costs. He fears that without a cost-sharing agreement in place, Brampton taxpayers could end up footing the costs for necessary and costly infrastructure projects.

“These are billion-dollar ticket items. The mayor of Mississauga is saying they aren’t paying. You have the province saying they wouldn’t be the ones paying. So who’s paying? I want a plan for this. I don’t want to one day wake up, and my residents are left with a $6,000 bill.”

Mary L. Flynn-Guglietti, partner and co-chair of the municipal law group with the law firm McMillan LLP, said Brown’s comments are understandable, given the lack of clarity in the legislation on how things will play out.

“If you look at the Act, it doesn’t really tell you how this is going to happen,” said Flynn-Guglietti, pointing out that unlike amalgamation, there are few examples of regions and assets being divided.

“It just tells you we are appointing five people who are going to look into it, and tell you how to dismantle the Region of Peel. And until that happens, (Brown) doesn’t know what it’s going to cost the residents of Brampton. He’s speaking to the unknown.”

Patrick Brown to show more impacts of Peel breakup
Brown, who plans to hold several press conferences over coming weeks highlighting the services that will be impacted by the dissolution of Peel said the ball is in the province’s court to ensure all cities get a fair deal.

“I wanted the public to understand the reality of what it means if Mississauga is given the permission to ‘dine-and-dash,’” said Brown. “And ultimately it will be a provincial decision whether to grant Mississauga that permission or say you have to pay 50 per cent share of these new servicing costs given that other municipalities did that for them when they were growing within the Region of Peel.”