Ontario Premier Doug Ford says it may be time to dissolve Peel Region, allowing Mississauga and Brampton to be stand-alone cities.
The government is considering dissolving Peel after nearly 50 years to allow for those municipalities (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) be independent.
Ford announced the possibility of breaking up the region during an unrelated news conference in Brampton on Thursday.
Ford was joined by Brampton’s Mayor Patrick Brown, and Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney, to announce a provincial and federal investment to Bramalea GO Station and overall transit infrastructure, including a new main building, over 4,000 new parking spaces and parking garage and expanded rail service.
When asked by a reporter about the City of Mississauga wanting to be removed from the Region of Peel, Ford mentioned a decision on the dissolvement would be made soon.
“I’ve always said publicly and I’m not going to change it, I think Brampton and Mississauga are large cities that can stand alone but the decision hasn’t been made. But I guarantee you that Brampton will always be taken care of and made whole, so will Mississauga and Caledon as well,” he continued.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is in favour of her city becoming independent as it would increase efficiency and save the city $1 billion over 10 years.
Brown welcomes efforts to remove regional confines but believes Mississauga would owe Brampton following separation due to lingering debt from infrastructure costs the city has given to Mississauga.
Ford says dissolving the region would be to ensure equal or better service for each city.
“If one region is taking more money than the other, we’re going to have to make sure that’s split equally,” Ford continued.
Ontarians have been weighing in on Mississauga and Brampton becoming stand-alone cities.
“Mississauga wanting to split off from Peel Region is a terrible idea for the same reason it’s a terrible idea that many American urban regions are carved up into jurisdictions based on race and class,” one Tweet reads.
Another twitter user says ”Mississauga should actually deamalgamate itself into more lower-tier municipalities but they all have to stay in Peel region. God knows when I lived at UTM in Erin Mills it felt like Square One was in a different city.”
One Ontarian is in favour of the move. “@BonnieCrombie good for you Mayor Crombie. Regional governments are a waste of taxpayer dollars. The bureaucracy not to mention the dictator style of those regional heads that are not voted in,” she said.
