Is the Conservative victory good news for Mississauga?

With a provincial election behind us, Mississauga officials are optimistic the re-elected Conservative’s will bring renewed attention to the needs of the city.

In an interview with insauga.com in the days leading up to the election, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she expects Premier Doug Ford to consider the city’s priorities, matters that she says her and council will continue to press for.

One of the top priorities will be reinstituting the transit loop that was originally planned to serve residents in the emerging downtown core.

The loop was planned to link up to the Hurontario LRT that is currently under construction and ultimately serve the tens of thousands of people who live and work in the city centre.

Unfortunately for Mississauga, Ford cancelled the loop shortly after his election in 2018, but that doesn’t mean Crombie has given up on the idea.

‘We need it,” she said. “I sure hope that it is back on the table.”

The mayor pointed out 40,000 additional residents will be moving into the city centre within the next 20 years along with 10,000 more jobs, numbers that warrant an efficient transportation system.

“It’s absolutely necessary, the premier has spoken about it publicly, but it wasn’t in the (Ontario) budget,” said Crombie. “Still, I’m very hopeful.”

Another issue at the top of the agenda for Mississauga is its desire to break away from Peel Region.

A priority first raised by former Mayor Hazel McCallion, Crombie and other local politicians have taken up the call to “go it alone” and break free from the connection of regional government.

Mississauga believes that operating as a single-tiered municipality would give it financial benefits and greater rewards. Essentially, politicians here believe they pay more into Peel than they get in return via the services received.

“You know how passionate I am that we control our own destiny,” said Crombie. “That we make decisions that influence our city at one council meeting rather than two.”

She pointed out that Mississauga pays 60 per cent of the costs that are needed to run Peel, yet doesn’t have a proportionate say on how that money is spent. She believes that separating from Peel would eliminate a number of duplicate resources and ultimately save taxpayers money.

Again, the mayor is optimistic about this issue saying Premier Ford has acknowledged Mississauga’s concerns and has indicated he is willing to revisit the matter of breaking up Peel Region.