Peel’s future is already uncertain—Transition Board chair’s departure raises even more questions 

The head of the transition team meant to facilitate the downloading of massive amounts of municipal infrastructure from the Region of Peel to its lower tier municipalities has resigned, creating uncertainty about the undertaking that has already caused incredible disruption to employees of the municipality.

According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and housing, John Livey resigned “to pursue other opportunities”. Livey, a former deputy city manager in Toronto, had led the transition board since it was created in May 2023. He has been replaced as Chair by board member Tracey Cook.

The resignation is only the latest in a long line of disruptions that have plagued the PC government’s handling of its desired changes to the Region of Peel. The Transition Board was initially created to facilitate the complete dissolution of the Region of Peel. The ill-planned push by Premier Doug Ford, apparently following a death-bed promise to the late Hazel McCallion, former mayor of Mississauga, created widespread disruption within the ranks at the Region of Peel. Staff began to quit in large numbers; social service agencies were left scrambling to ensure vital services were not cut off after the Region was dismantled; and many vital services, which had just managed to get back on track following the COVID-19 pandemic, were once again paused to focus on the latest whim of the PC government. 

“There is no doubt that behind-the-scenes staff are tired,” a spokesperson told The Pointer at the time. “We are concerned about the length of the uncertainty and the impact it will have on staff and, therefore, service levels.”

Then in December, the PCs made the abrupt decision to abandon the dissolution process altogether, despite the fact the Transition Board it appointed had already racked by millions in costs—something the PCs would later agree to pay, in part. The PCs provided no evidence to explain its decision to abandon the dissolution process, with housing minister Paul Calandra repeatedly stating during a press conference the aim was to “reduce red tape” and that this move was a necessary step to build 1.5 million homes. However, his claims run directly counter to the wording used in the Act itself, to explain why it was created in the first place. 

The legislation, passed in June last year, states that Ontarians “Recognize that municipalities should be empowered with the tools needed to plan for population growth, including the tools needed to build more housing options” in “an efficient manner for taxpayers.” 

After using these justifications for the break-up of Peel, Calandra is now using them to justify keeping the Region intact.

Calandra explained the government would instead have the transition board focus on downloading a number of municipal services under the jurisdiction of the Region of Peel to Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. These services include: land use; regional roads; water and wastewater; and waste management. 

The disruption in Peel caused by the PC government and housing minister Paul Calandra continues to be felt in the region.

(Government of Ontario)

The PC government will not say whether Livey’s departure will impact the delivery of any final recommendations on how to best transition these assets to the lower tier municipalities. The board’s mandate is slated to end in January 2025 unless extended by Calandra. 

The PC’s would not say when these final recommendations are expected to be delivered or if they would be made public.

Any disruption to the transition board and ensuing impact on any final recommendations to the PC government, could have drastic implications on the Region of Peel and the services it provides to residents. 

A report that went before the Region’s Audit and Risk Committee earlier this year details the potential risks and impacts of downloading of the four responsibilities onto the lower tier municipalities and labels a multitude of implications to service delivery, resource retention and goal achievement. 

“There is a very high risk it will not be possible for the successor entities to maintain service continuity, at the same level of standard as provided by Peel Region, due to the impacts of skilled staff shortages, impacts of increases in cost, and impacts of lack of required infrastructure such as facilities, vehicles, IT systems, and historical data,” the report reads. Some of the high risk categories pertain to efforts to mitigate climate risks and keep emissions to appropriate levels. The challenge comes as the Region, as well as all three lower tier municipalities, are struggling to keep pace with their ambitious climate targets. 

The disruption to the departments responsible for land use could also have implications on the PC’s main policy pillar, building more housing. There will undoubtedly be delays as land use departments are broken down at the Region, then reconstructed in the trio of lower-tier municipalities. While some staff may accept jobs within the cities of Brampton, Mississauga or Caledon, which will help with the transfer of institutional knowledge, there are not enough to go around and hires will need to be made. Accounting for this transition process and any new onboarding could cause significant delay to necessary permitting, analysis and approvals.

This transition will also cause fractures to the regional efforts to fight climate change. Since declaring a climate emergency in 2019, Peel—Ontario’s second-largest municipality— created its Climate Change Master Plan (CCMP) with the goal of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent compared to 2010 levels by 2030.  But in 2022, the second progress report for the CCMP was released, concluding the Region was not moving fast enough—by a long shot—toward achieving these crucial targets. After two years, none of the 20 actions outlined in the CCMP had been completed and 15 percent had not even been started.  

“The scale of work remaining on actions ‘in progress’ along with a quarter of actions not yet initiated are causes for concern,” the report stated. 

The 2023 progress report concluded that all five corporate milestones of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) framework for reducing GHG emissions had been completed. However, the actions within the CCMP were still underway. 

“If the increased scale and pace of the response is not realized, achieving the 2030 climate change outcomes are at risk,” the report states. 

The risk profile identifies special concern with the distribution of collective institutional knowledge with the downloading of certain services. While it is yet to be known how staffing resources will be split up, the report identifies that knowledgeable staff will be split across the municipalities but there may be cases where subject matter experts — with a particular emphasis on land use planning — may not be able to be shared if there are less than three experts at the regional level. 

The report notes that each municipality may be responsible for procuring additional consultants to build out in-house expertise, a feat that will cost additional funds and provide service delays. 

The report notes that this will put a significant strain on the lower tier municipalities to adapt to their new responsibilities which could result in disruption and delays to critical plans. 

Further, following the downloading of certain services, each lower tier municipality will be responsible for the consideration of all of the natural heritage resources within its borders. One of the biggest concerns identified within the risk profile, is the geographic distribution of these features (rivers, wetlands, etc.) which do not follow municipal borders and therefore rely on regional expertise and perspective for environmental and climate impact studies. 

Natural systems do not follow municipal boundaries. Failing to plan and study these resources from a regional perspective will have negative impacts on the environment.

(Region of Peel) 

“Each successor entity will need to conduct their own studies within the confines of their geographical boundary, which may lead to duplication of studies, sufficient research not being undertaken and losing broader perspective,” the report reads.

But the report notes that a lack of effective coordination and implementation of these studies increase the consequences of loss of natural cover, wetlands and biodiversity; increased greenhouse gas emissions; reduced health of ecosystems; and misalignment of mapping resources.

With files from Rachel Morgan 

Email: [email protected]

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you