Ontario Premier Doug Ford is reportedly planning to reverse his decision to dissolve Peel Region.
The Toronto Star reports that Ford is reconsidering the dissolution of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon amid reports of the significant money it will cost Peel taxpayers.
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On Friday, the City of Brampton released shocking figures that says if the dissolution were to occur now, taxpayers in all three municipalities would see “catastrophic financial impacts,” including an additional $1.31 billion in operating costs and a one time tax increase of 38% across the three municipalities.
“We never asked for the Region of Peel to be dissolved. We have always asked for redundancy to be removed. The independent financial analysis clearly shows the net result would be a financial disaster for Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. It would result in the largest tax increase in Peel Region’s history,” Brown said in a statement on Friday.
“The Province of Ontario and the Transition Board really need to revisit this decision and take a long, hard look at the data collected by their officials. Taxpayers already struggling with high interest rates and inflation can’t afford the largest tax increase in history,” he added.
Ford was reportedly concerned when he saw these new figures, and sources told The Star that he would have more to say in the coming days.
Back in May, the province introduced Bill 112, also known as the Hazel McCallion Act (Peel Dissolution), with the intention of dissolving Peel and making Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga single-tier municipalities by Jan. 1, 2025.
The Ontario government also established a Transition Board to ensure a smooth and effective transition for the municipalities.
Tuesday afternoon, Mayor of Caledon Annette Groves posted on X that “it would be encouraging if the province rethought the dissolution of Peel Region.”
“At this time there are too many unknown costs to fully understand the true impact to taxpayers if Peel dissolves. It is also uncertain how dissolution will negatively impact the Town’s ability to reach its housing pledge and the provincial goal to build 1.5M new homes,” she said.
After former Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie held her first press conference at Queen’s Park as Ontario Liberal leader she was asked about the new figures released by Brampton on Monday. She told Globe and Mail reporter Laura Stone that, “The Premier and I don’t agree on a lot of things, but we do agree on dissolution of Peel”, while adding that it will cut red tape and bureaucracy.
