Mississauga will work with province on new plan for Peel dissolution

View the press conference – Mississauga update with Mayor Crombie

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While Mississauga was fully committed and prepared to move forward with the full dissolution of the Region of Peel, as stated in the Hazel McCallion Act (Peel Dissolution), the City is supportive of the plan announced today by Minister Calandra to scope the dissolution process and will work with the province to make it a reality. From Mississauga’s perspective, today marks the first phase of a longer-term process.

Minister Calandra announced today that the province’s Transition Board mandate will change to review moving some services, including waste management, road and related infrastructure, water and wastewater operations, and land-use planning to the lower-tier municipalities, including Mississauga. The Transition Board will continue to work with the local municipalities and the Region of Peel to develop models and make recommendations to the province, with the ultimate goal of getting more housing built quickly. Mississauga has a plan to reach the housing target of 120,000 homes in 10 years, and welcomes the ability to have more control over the infrastructure that supports these new units.

“Mississauga remains fully committed to becoming an independent, single-tier city like over 170 others in Ontario,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “While today’s announcement is not exactly what we were hoping for, we are pleased that significant services that were delivered by the Region will now be delivered independently. The province could have fully walked back dissolution, but they chose not to. This isn’t the end of our path to independence, it’s simply a bump in the road. From our perspective, this is the first phase of the work to dissolve the Region and will allow Mississauga, the Province, and our neighbouring cities to demonstrate that independent status is not only possible, but a good deal for taxpayers. Mississauga is ready to continue our work with the Transition Board.”

Mississauga Council and staff have been working co-operatively with the provincially-appointed Transition Board since August, as well as with our neighbouring municipalities of Brampton and Caledon, and the Region of Peel. The process has been moving ahead smoothly and showing significant progress. On direction from the province through the Hazel McCallion Act (Peel Dissolution), Mississauga staff have invested thousands of hours in preparation for the dissolution of the Region of Peel. The City has also invested tremendous resources, including hiring staff to facilitate the transition.

“I’m pleased that the province has not completely stopped the work on dissolution,” said Shari Lichterman, City Manager and CAO. “We know just how important this work is for the residents, businesses, and taxpayers of Mississauga. The reality is the priorities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon have grown over time and have diverged in many areas. Mississauga and Brampton have outgrown the regional model of governance. While today’s decision represents a change in the scope of work, it doesn’t change Mississauga’s commitment to the project and to continuing to work with our partners in Caledon and Brampton, the Region and the Transition Board to make this first phase a reality.”

Mississauga has long advocated for single-tier, independent status, and a fair deal for taxpayers. Today’s decision is an important step forward to ensuring funding and scarce resources will be focused on the most important priorities for each city.

Background

There are currently 173 single-tier municipalities in Ontario, almost all of which are smaller in population than the City of Mississauga and the City of Brampton. For nearly four decades, the City of Mississauga has advocated being a single-tier, independent municipality. The City has developed multiple business cases and submissions to the provincial government, outlining the case for independence. As the third largest city in Ontario, with a population approaching 800,000 and one million by 2041, the Regional model no longer works well for the City, residents and businesses, and property taxpayers.

Tags

• Government and Agencies
• Regional Governance/ Independence