Plan to move key Peel Region services to Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon expected in months, not years

The team put in charge of cutting red tape in Peel is just months away from putting forward a plan to download regional services like garbage pickup and wastewater to Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

Insauga.com reported on Thursday that the province’s Transition Board, originally formed to oversee the now-scrapped dissolution of Peel, now has an updated mandate to transfer some key services currently provided by the region to the City of Mississauga, the City of Brampton and the Town of Caledon.

Those services include regional land use planning, water and wastewater, regional roads and waste management, among others.

In a release on Friday, Peel Regional Chair Nando Iannicca says the board is expected to make its recommendations on how to move forward by the spring.

“These services are land use planning, water and wastewater management, regional roads, and waste management,” Iannicca said, adding that all other services currently delivered by Peel Region, like Peel Paramedics, Peel Housing Corporation, and homelessness services, are “considered out of scope.”

Regional Council passed motions asking the province to keep both Peel Regional Police and Peel Paramedics intact, with a paramedics’ union warning of a potential “mass exodus” of first responders.

The province backtracked on the breakup of Peel in December, leading to more questions about what role the Transition Board would play in Peel’s future.

When first announced back in May, the province touted the breakup of Peel as a way to reduce bureaucracy at the regional level to speed up housing projects. The letter from Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra outlines the board’s “recalibrated scope” on services but also maintains the priority of speeding up housing approvals ad construction.

Iannicca said the updated mandate letter has “provided clarity” on the board’s new role while keeping the goal of “on enhancing the efficiency and responsiveness of local government in Peel.”

“We will continue to work with the Province and the Transition Board to provide the information needed to inform decisions and to gain clarity on the updated mandate,” he said.

And while the current chair welcomed the update, former Region of Peel Chief Administrative Officer Janice Baker said she doubts the transfer of regional services to the lower-tier municipalities will save money and “looks like a political agenda to get rid of Peel Public Works.”

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and Caledon Mayor Annette Groves were against the breakup when it was first announced, while former Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie was in support of the plan.

Reversing the decision to split the region also broke a deathbed promise by Premier Doug Ford to longtime Mississauga Hazel McCallion.