Ontario reversing decision to dissolve Peel Region

cp24.com
Dec. 13, 2023
Robert Benzie

The Doug Ford government will no longer dissolve the Region of Peel.

The announcement, made by Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra on Wednesday afternoon, will reverse plans that would have seen Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon become single-tier, independent cities by 2025.

In the summer, the Progressive Conservatives fast-tracked legislation--dubbed the Hazel McCallion Act--through Queen’s Park, skipping public consultation and putting the onus on a transition board to review issues related to finance, governance and shared core services.

“While we originally thought that the best way to achieve our goals of better services and lower taxes was through dissolution, we’ve since heard loud and clear from municipal leaders and stakeholders that full dissolution would lead to significant tax hikes and disruption to critical services the people of Peel Region depend on,” Calandra said in a statement ahead of the announcement.

“This is something our government will never support.”

Instead, the government will introduce legislation in the new year that would “recalibrate the mandate of the Peel Region Transition Board” to focus on making local governments more efficient. This will include improving regional services like policing, paramedics and public health.

The board will be asked to make recommendations on “optimizing the delivery of services that support the commitment to build more homes.”

Officials said these recommendations will help remove a “duplicative layer of regional bureaucracy,” although it’s unclear how this will work, considering shared governance will still be in place.

Both Brampton and Caledon had expressed concerns about dissolving Peel Region before the Ford government passed legislation.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said the tax ramifications would be severe, citing a jump of about 38 per cent. He also expressed concerns about shared services.

When asked why the government didn’t consult and review the impacts the dissolution of Peel Region would have on municipalities beforehand, Calandra indicated the legislation and the transition board were needed in order to do that kind of work.

“I’m quite excited about this,” the minister said of the board’s new mandate.

This is the third major policy reversal since Calandra took over the housing file in September.

The other two policies included the government’s decision to carve up the Greenbelt and alter urban boundaries without proper consultation.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement that while it’s positive the government is reversing their plans, it has become a “concerning pattern.”

“In this case, Mr. Ford & Ms. (Bonnie) Crombie used the people of Peel as pawns in some bizarre political chess game,” Stiles said.

“Ford has created months of stress and uncertainty for workers in Peel Region who don’t know if their jobs are secure. People in Peel Region have been worried about how the services they count on will be delivered and if their taxes will skyrocket. He’s wasted an entire year that could have been spent working to actually address the housing affordability crisis.

Crombie, the outgoing mayor of Mississauga and current leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, indicated that she didn’t believe this announcement was the end of her vision for an independent Mississauga.

“It's simply a bump in the road,” she said.

“I want to acknowledge the premier and minister could have chosen to completely walk away from the dissolution today, but they chose not to because deep down I know they share our collective commitment to ensuring that local government runs efficiently and effectively and that our taxpayers get a fair deal.”

There is no indication at this time that the province will dissolve Peel Region at a later date.

OVER A DOZEN MZOS BEING REVIEWED
A review of some MZOs, first promised by Calandra in September, has found that some were “showing a lack of progress” and are being considered for amendment or revocation.

A MZO is a provincial mechanism that allows the government to re-zone a piece of land and override municipal development constrictions.

The province’s auditor general noted two years ago that the Progressive Conservative government frequently used MZOs to overcome potential barriers and delays to development.

Forty-four MZOs were issued by the government between March 2019 and March 2021. In the past, about one was issued per year, the 2021 report said.

Calandra has previously said he will run with a “use it or lose it” approach to reviewing MZOs. As such, on Wednesday, he announced that eight orders unrelated to housing are being consulted on for proposed amendment or cancellation.

Another 14 housing-related MZOs are “under enhanced monitoring because they are showing a lack of progress.”

CITY AUDITS CANCELLED
Financial audits for the City of Toronto, Mississauga, Caledon, Brampton, Newmarket and the Region of Peel will soon be terminated.

The audit process began in May after municipal leaders and planners expressed concerns about provincial housing legislation that slashed development charges in an effort to encourage more construction.

Some municipalities warned that eliminating these fees and charges will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. Developer funding is often used to develop critical infrastructure that could support housing or other community projects.

Then-Housing Minister Steve Clark promised to ensure cities are “made whole” during the process.

However, the province said that development charge exemptions for non-profit, affordable and purpose-built rental homes will remain unchanged.

Crombie suggested the audits were almost complete and that the province should release the results publicly, as she believes it would have shown that Mississauga was financially capable of operating as an independent city.

“I understand that these audits are now completed and I urge the government to release the results, as I believe they will help inform future planning not only for all three cities, but for the region.”

It’s unclear how much the termination of these audits will cost the province.