By Maegan Lee and Andrea Pozo
What we know so far:
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark tabled legislation today that aims to dissolve Peel Region by Jan. 1, 2025.
Speaking to reporters after introducing the bill, Clark said the province would appoint a transition board of up to five members to help with the process.
Mayor Responses:
Mississauga
Bill 112 is named the Hazel McCallion Act, after the late Mississauga mayor who pushed for her city’s independence.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said this is a very historic day and said McCallion would be smiling down on her.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for many years,” she said.
Crombie said she wants the tax dollars of the people living in Mississauga to go toward their city’s growth, infrastructure, and services.
“I will only expect that the same fairness and equity be the principles that take us, move us going forward,” she said. “As we all grow and as we all grow independently.”
Brampton
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown worries about the finances needed to update the different necessary infrastructures, including but not limited to the police services and the water treatment plant facilities.
“The stakes are extraordinary,” Brown said. “If we have to rebuild our water treatment facilities and wastewater on our own, that’s $6,000 per resident.”
“Brampton would never accept our residents being taken advantage of,” he said.
Caledon
Annette Groves, the Mayor of Caledon, is confident the residents and the Town of Caledon will be taken care of during the process but worries about the fate of the thousands of employees in Peel Region.
“We have 7000 employees that work in the Region of Peel,” she said. “I really hope that we will consider those employees because many of them are residents of Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon.”
What is Peel Region?
Peel Region is an “upper-tier” municipality that is responsible for different shared services between Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, such as police and paramedic services, water treatment facilities, and school boards.
Currently, the Region of Peel consists of three separate municipalities: the City of Mississauga, the City of Brampton, and the Town of Caledon.
More to come.