Brampton mayor race

Election Recap

NRU
Oct. 15, 2014
By Leah Wong

As the municipal elections near their conclusions, one of the key races to keep an eye on is the Brampton mayoral election. Though the incumbent Mayor Susan Fennell is seeking reelection, she is facing tough competition following allegations of wrongful spending.

Fennell has long denied any wrongdoing, but recent polls suggest Brampton voters are looking for a new leader this fall. The three frontrunners in the mayoral race are Fennell, former Liberal MPP Linda Jeffrey and Wards 3 & 4 regional councillor John Sanderson. A poll released by Forum Research in late September showed 42 per cent of voters intend to vote for Jeffrey, while Fennell and Sanderson each have the support of 17 per cent of electors.

Amid the expense scandal at city hall Jeffrey has included plans to improve council’s transparency and integrity in her platforms, while Sanderson has outlined how he will improve transparency in the mayor’s office.

Jeffrey’s plan includes appointing a full-time independent municipal integrity commissioner, developing a clear and transparent procurement policy and adopting new council and staff codes of conduct. Sanderson says he will post his schedule and expenses online and put forward a motion about secret council meetings. He guarantees no agenda items that need public debate will be marked as consent items that can be approved without discussion.

The three front-runners agreed at the Brampton Board of Trade and Rogers TV all-candidates’ debate in early October that Brampton needs increased representation on Peel Region council. All said they would bring a resolution to regional council to address this matter at the start of the term. Currently Brampton has seven of 24 council members on regional council. Caledon has five and Mississauga has 12.

Another issue for residents is what candidates will do to bring a university to Brampton. The city had been pursuing two plans to get a university: Sheridan College had expressed interest in getting university status and the city was working on a proposal with Centennial College for a new University of Guelph campus in Brampton. Neither met the criteria of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ Major Capacity Expansion Policy Framework and the deadline for proposals has passed.

Jeffrey says if elected, she will create a blue ribbon panel to look into bringing a university to Brampton and show the provincial government Brampton is ideally located for a university campus focused on healthcare and related research areas. She says the plan originally put forward by council was not a good one as downtown Brampton is not the right location for a campus.

If elected Sanderson says he will create a Brampton University Committee and establish a 10-year budget for the university’s development. He says Brampton is positioned to be a research and development hub, and will look at how working with private sector partners could enhance the business case for a university.

Though Fennell has yet to release a platform, her campaign website says establishing two new universities is at the heart of her plan for Brampton.

Jacqueline Bell, Sukhjinder Gill, Gurjit Grewal, Muhammad Haque, Donald McLeod, Baljit Bobby More, Joseph Racco, Hargurnar Singh Hargy Randhawa, Devinder Sangha, Ranjit Singh and Miriam Wylie are also running for mayor.