Peel split needed fast, says Mississauga mayor: Brampton has to “stand on its own two feet”

Mississauga’s mayor didn’t mince words when speaking recently about the dissolution of the Region of Peel and its three member municipalities going their separate ways.

In an interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura that was posted to X (formerly Twitter), Mayor Bonnie Crombie said the municipal split, mandated by the Ontario government to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, can’t happen soon enough.

A five-person transition board appointed by Premier Doug Ford’s government is currently studying the Peel books, and those of member municipalities Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, to determine the best path towards dissolution.

Crombie said she’s hopeful and confident things will proceed smoothly.

“The (transition) board was very well prepared and they were very committed to separation as soon as possible,” Crombie told insauga.com in the recent interview (see below). “It’s very important for (Mississauga), in particular, that this process go quickly so that the third-largest city in Ontario (Mississauga) not subsidize the growth of the fourth-largest city (Brampton), and that they stand on their own two feet.”

It’s also crucial, the mayor continued, that “…we have the ability to control our own destiny and reinvest our taxpayer dollars back into our city rather than to another tier of government or to another growing municipality nearby.”

Crombie and other top City of Mississauga officials have met with the transition board and the mayor said residents can soon expect Mississauga and the province to “start making announcements.”

She added that “…no matter what decisions are made, we just ask that the process be very fair and very transparent. Obviously, there has been some misinformation that has been put forward publicly.”

Crombie was taking aim at Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown with that last comment.

Brown has made repeated public assertions the past several months that Mississauga owes his city a pile of cash under any separation deal.

He and the City of Brampton insist that in return for decades of financially supporting Mississauga’s growth, Brampton is now due compensation from Canada’s seventh-largest city as things move forward with the Peel split.

However, angry Mississauga councillors and their mayor have said bluntly on several occasions that Brown is peddling false information and that Mississauga paid its own way over the decades via its development charges.

Brown has been especially vocal since Bill 112 (Hazel McCallion Act) calling for the splitting up of Peel was introduced on May 18 at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

The bill was fast-tracked through the Ontario Legislature and passed third reading in early June. It subsequently received Royal Assent making it law and getting the ball rolling toward a Peel split as of Jan. 1, 2025.

What is the latest in Mississauga leaving Peel? pic.twitter.com/FE3YmuNJwD

— insauga (@insauga) August 16, 2023