10 people have entered the race to become next mayor of Mississauga

Ten people have officially registered for the race to become the next mayor of Mississauga in what the former office holder predicted would be “an open field” in the competition to succeed her.

Speaking in early December shortly after learning she’d won a race of her own to become the new leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, Bonnie Crombie described the impending Mississauga mayoral contest as one that would likely attract a large number of candidates.

She added at the time she didn’t plan to endorse any particular candidate when the byelection to replace her came along. Mississauga voters will go to the polls on June 10 — if not sooner at advance polling stations — to choose the next mayor of Canada’s seventh-largest city.

Crombie, who was in her third term as mayor when she decided to bolt for provincial politics, told the early December media scrum in Toronto she believed the Mississauga mayoral race was “an open field right now.

“I know there are lots of people that have expressed interest, but there will be many more,” she continued. “When there’s not an incumbent running, there will be a lot of expressions (of interest) from business, community and political leaders.”

So far, Crombie has nailed it with her sentiments. As of Friday at 5:30 p.m., 10 mayoral hopefuls had signed up with the City of Mississauga and paid the required $200 to take a shot at the mayor’s seat.

The field so far includes four Mississauga city councillors, a handful of residents who’ve previously run for the office and the son of former longtime mayor Hazel McCallion.

Nominations opened on Wednesday afternoon and will close on April 26, at 2 p.m. A six-week mayoral byelection campaign will then follow until election night on the first Monday in June.

Candidates to enter the race so far are:

• Ward 1 Coun. Stephen Dasko
• Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo
• Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish
• Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla
• Amir Ali
• Syed Jaffery
• Peter McCallion
• David Shaw
• George Tavares
• Peter Tolias

The winner will become the seventh mayor of Mississauga, following Robert Speck (1968-72), Chic Murray (1972-73), Martin Dobkin (1973-76), Ron Searle (1976-78), Hazel McCallion (1978-2014) and Crombie (2014-24).

Parrish is resigning her seat on council in order to run for mayor, the only councillor so far to do so. Her last day is March 15 and her resignation will likely be followed by a byelection to fill the Ward 5 vacancy.

In order to qualify as a candidate to succeed Crombie, according to the city, mayoral byelection hopefuls must be:

• a Canadian citizen
• at least 18 years old
• a resident of Mississauga or owner or tenant of property in Mississauga or the spouse of an owner or tenant of property in the city

In order to run, candidates also must not be prohibited from doing so under the Municipal Elections Act or other law. Each candidate must also pay a $200 nomination fee to the city.

Crombie left her post as Mississauga mayor on Jan. 12 to grab the reins of the Ontario Liberals. She had earlier taken a leave from the city back in October and councillors since then have been taking turns serving as acting mayor.

While Crombie said she wouldn’t be endorsing any byelection candidate, she did tell insauga.com in an earlier interview what type of person she’d like to succeed her.

In the interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura, Crombie said it should be “someone who is equally committed to our priorities; someone who will follow in the same footsteps Hazel (McCallion) and I have created…we were both heavily engaged in the community.

“My presence at every event — whether it’s the festivals, it’s the ribbon cuttings for new businesses, it’s the parades, it’s the banquets, the celebrations — I think that’s vitally important. Our community expects that of their mayor. They expect you not only to do the day-to-day work at city hall, to shepherd through our priorities, but also be a presence in the community, be that ambassador for the city.”