New Brampton City Council will tackle fireworks, university, legal issues at first meeting

Brampton’s new city council will start with a busy first day discussing hot button issues and items left unresolved by the previous term council.

Councillors will be sworn in at an inauguration ceremony on Tuesday night (Nov. 15) before sitting down at the council table for a special council meeting on Wednesday.

October’s municipal election saw four new members elected to council; Gurpartap Singh Toor for Wards 9 and 10; Navjit Kaur Brar for Wards 2 and 6; Rod Power for Wards 7 and 8; and Dennis Keenan for Wards 3 and 4.

Wednesday’s agenda includes a number of important discussion items relating to City business, like plans for staff returning to in-person work, landlord licensing, and the province’s More Homes Built Faster Act.

But there are also some possibly contentious items on the agenda dating back to the previous term of council – like one from Mayor Patrick Brown on “reauthorizing staff engagement in university advocacy for the City.”

A forensic audit into the scrapped Brampton University project was cancelled earlier this year due to a motion by Mayor Brown, despite auditors finding possible conflict of interests with consultants on the project.

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The city’s Brampton University file was an election issue for mayoral candidate Nikki Kaur, and the University of Guelph-Humber officially pulled out of relocating its campus to Brampton in the midst of the election cycle.

There is also a discussion item on “fireworks in Brampton” from council newcomer Dennis Keenan.

The City of Brampton received more than 1,000 fireworks complaints during Diwali celebrations on election night, with users on social media saying fireworks could be heard going off well after the City’s 11:00 p.m. bylaw and as late as 5:00 a.m. in some parts of the city.

And Coun. Harkirat Singh has put forward an agenda item on the reimbursement of external legal fees.

In July, the City was hit with a $20,000 fine for legal costs incurred by Coun. Singh after challenging an illegal motion to appoint an interim councillor before the seat was declared vacant.

The last term of Brampton City Council was marred by months of in-fighting, boycotted meetings and allegations of wrongdoing against councillors and the mayor. Brown has said he’s hopeful this term of council won’t have “that type of dysfunction,” and the mayor believes he has “a clear majority around the council table.”

The council inauguration ceremony runs from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by a reception at The Rose Brampton.

A limited number of tickets will be available by calling the box office at 905-874-2800. Doors open at 6:30 pm and close for admission at 7:30 p.m.

Here are is a list of Brampton’s current council:

Mayor
Patrick Brown

Regional Councillors
Wards 1 & 5: Paul Vicente
Wards 2 & 6: Michael Paul Palleschi
Wards 3 & 4: Martin Medeiros
Wards 7 & 8: Pat Fortini
Wards 9 & 10: Gurpartap Singh Toor

City Councillors
Wards 1 & 5: Rowena Santos
Wards 2 & 6: Navjit Kaur Brar
Wards 3 & 4: Dennis Keenan
Wards 7 & 8: Rod Power
Wards 9 & 10: Harkirat Singh