Peel CAO speaks of staff feeling 'grief, anger and betrayal' after provincial announcement

Council asks for commitment from province on continued service through transition

Bramptonguardian.com
June 9, 2023
Alexandra Heck

It seems there were more questions than answers around the horseshoe at Peel regional council, as members grapple with what the disbanding of the region will look like.

Chief administrative officer Gary Kent gave a presentation on what he knows so far, along with a framework of how the region would function until the day it’s discontinued.

“We’ve gone through stages of emotion,” Kent said on Thursday, June 8, describing the difficulty that his staff have faced, describing the “grief, anger and betrayal” many have felt.

“We have lost some good staff already,” he said, mentioning departures from the planning department and legal team.

Kent stated staff retention will be a key issue going forward and it may be challenging to continue services right up until the switchover.

He stressed how important it will be for his staff to have answers to the big questions sooner rather than later, citing stress over OMERS pensions, employees renewing their mortgages and planning their lives.

“Certainty will come, and it can’t come fast enough,” he said.

Members of community service groups spoke to council as well, seeking commitment that their partnerships wouldn’t be disrupted in the process and that regional programs and services wouldn’t fall through the cracks.

“We can’t afford to slide backwards,” said Gurpreet Malhotra, CEO of Indus Community Services, sharing his concerns about the vulnerable populations that rely on the organization.

Coun. Carolyn Parrish put forward a motion to ask staff to draft a letter to the province urging it to ensure there won’t be disruptions of service.

Kent gave a timeline for how the process is expected to unfold, starting with the appointment of the panel that is expected to recommend how the region would be divided up.

The panel is expected to be in place by late July, or early August.

By fall 2024, the group is supposed to make its recommendations to the province, with the region being fully finished by January 2025.

Kent pointed out the report expected to be sent to the province won’t be made public, and wonders if it will be released to regional staff as well.

“We want that report,” Parrish said, explaining the details in that report will be crucial in knowing the reasoning and rationale for changes that will be made.

It was Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown that shared the gravest points, how Peel Regional Police would be shared, along with water and wastewater and how the region’s projected infrastructure shortfalls would square with the province’s ambitious growth targets.

He cited several development projects that have been put on hold due to infrastructure issues and a lack of servicing.

“Not everything will be the same,” he said, talking about staffing and the uncertainty of jobs. “There will be some redundancy.”

Kent said there is no knowing how the panel will undertake the process, if there will be consultation with staff.

What is heartening, he said, is both studies undertaken by Deloitte as well as Ernst and Young indicate that a similar number of staff are needed at each municipality after the region is dissolved.

“Neither have less staff under dissolution,” he said.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie responded to Brown’s claims about a lack of servicing, arguing that there is capacity, but in the places that are slated for growth in the Region of Peel’s official plan.

“It is very important that we continue to stick to that growth plan,” she said.