PCs begin dismantling Peel’s government; Mississauga-Brampton feud escalates

The last few weeks have revealed the dysfunction of regional government in Peel, with its two large cities clearly unable to work together under the two-tier system.

On Thursday, hours before the PC government took its first steps to dismantle Peel’s regional government, Mississauga councillors did not show up for a planned meeting to approve the 2025 Peel budget, forcing its cancellation. The city’s local elected officials have raised two issues with the regional budget: a proposed 23.3 percent ($144 million) increase for police; and uncertainty surrounding the Doug Ford government’s downloading of regional services to Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. 

In the final sitting in the legislature before Queen’s Park takes a two-month break, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra introduced legislation providing long-awaited details of what Peel’s regional government will look like going forward.  

The proposed legislation would “strengthen municipal governance and accountability” and give Peel’s three lower-tier municipalities “the tools they need to provide high-quality services to local taxpayers as these municipalities continue to grow,” according to a press release Thursday. Waste management in Mississauga, and regional roads, will be downloaded “to provide these municipalities with greater independence as they meet the needs of their growing communities.”

The proposed changes include transferring jurisdiction and responsibility for regional roads and associated stormwater infrastructure to Peel’s lower-tiers. Waste collection services and two community recycling centres in Mississauga will also be passed down to the municipality from the Region. These changes will be implemented by July 2026, or as determined by the Minister.

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced long-awaited changes to services in the Region of Peel during the final sitting of the Legislature for 2024 on Thursday.

(Government of Ontario)

The Region will continue to provide waste collection services for Brampton and Caledon and transfer, processing, and disposal services for all three lower-tier municipalities, according to the proposed legislation. Speculation that the Province was considering opening up the utilities in Peel to a private entity had been circulating, but it seems that is no longer being considered. The latest announcement revealed the Province will continue to study options for the potential transfer of water/wastewater services from the Region “with any future outcome maintaining public ownership.”

The Province also announced that as of December 31, the Transition Board appointed to oversee Peel’s reconfiguration will be dissolved. Moving forward, Ontario’s Provincial Land and Development Facilitator “will work with the municipalities to facilitate the process for the service transfers, including the transfer of assets and liabilities, and other transitional matters.” The Province says it will cover the cost of the facilitator’s services. If passed, the legislation will also provide the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with the authority “to take future actions to support the service transfers.”

The Province has not confirmed whether any of the reports or studies used by the Transition Board to inform this decision will be made public. The Pointer reached out to the Minister’s office for clarification but the spokesperson would not provide a direct response. 

To date, the PC government has kept everything regarding Peel’s dissolution behind closed doors. It is unclear what the Province discussed, what was studied or how the Premier and his PC government came to this conclusion.

The announcement comes on the heels of a tumultuous year and a half for Peel. Premier Doug Ford and his PC government initially announced a full dissolution of the Region of Peel in May 2023, but the plans were later uprooted at the end of the same year, citing concerns that a full breakup would not provide the best value for taxpayers, though no evidence was provided to back those claims. The mandate of the Transition Board appointed by the Province to dismantle the Region was then reconfigured to analyze the best method to download a set of specific services to Peel’s lower tiers, including land use planning, roads, water and wastewater.

Many land use planning functions were passed down earlier this year under separate legislation that dismantled upper-tier control, a move the PCs stated was an effort to remove duplication and accommodate the PCs housing legislation to meet its home-building targets.

While the legislation provides a certain degree of clarity for elected officials making financial decisions for the year ahead, questions are still being raised about the efficiency of regional governance in Peel, particularly when it comes to the Peel Regional Police. 

The 23.3 percent budget increase being requested by Peel Police for 2025 has driven a wedge between Brampton and Mississauga—two cities with very different needs, and very different financial foundations. 

Support for the police budget has been divided down municipal lines. Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish resigned from the Peel Police Services Board in protest to her inability to oppose the increase that will place a significant financial burden on taxpayers in her city. Conversely, Mayor Patrick Brown in Brampton has strongly supported the unsustainable increase, even stating he wants to hire more than the 300 officers already being proposed. Questions are already being raised about whether Peel Police will be able to onboard 300 officers in a single year.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown have been at odds over the unsustainable increase being requested for Peel Police’s 2025 budget.

(The Pointer Files)

The current funding model has the City of Mississauga subsidizing policing in Brampton—covering 62 percent of the police budget to Brampton’s 32 percent—despite the two cities seeing roughly equal calls for service.

This outdated scheme has been a point of contention for Mississauga for years, and fixing it was a key part of the City’s push for independence.

"I would not say the announcement has been what we hoped for,” Mayor Parrish told The Pointer. “As far as the police are concerned we are paying 62 percent of their budget while having similar sized populations and crime rates as Brampton. If we can’t get a fairer deal there, we would be happy to consider splitting PRP into Mississauga Police and Brampton Police. Any initial duplication costs would be rapidly recovered from the 12 percent extra payments we are making every year now.” 

The cancellation of Thursday’s budget meeting, the last one scheduled for 2024, leaves the entire Region of Peel budget, including Peel Police, in limbo until the new year. The Regional Chair can call a special meeting this year but none are currently scheduled on the Region’s council calendar. Mayor Parrish said Mississauga Council would not agree to any budget meetings until the new year. 

“There’s no sense of urgency here. I think operations will continue as usual so none of our existing programs are at risk,” Mississauga Councillor Alvin Tedjo told The Pointer after the meeting’s cancellation. “We did pass, at the last budget meeting, capital projects and work that needed to move forward ahead of the budget.”

The departure of all Mississauga councillors Thursday—at least one is required to achieve quorum at the Region of Peel—also meant that seven scheduled delegations would not be heard. Adrian Woolley, the President of the Peel Police Association was scheduled to speak in support of the police budget increase, and several residents, including the parents of Darian Henderson-Bellman, a 25-year-old woman killed by her intimate partner, were slated to speak to the funding increase.

“I’m surprised that anyone was surprised that we would be waiting until January to finish the budget. I thought it was clearly enunciated several times by people,” Councillor Joe Horneck told The Pointer. It remains unclear when any previous decision was made to delay the budget until January. A motion from Horneck was included on Thursday’s agenda making such a request, but it was never voted on. 

A similar statement was made by Mayor Parrish. 

“The decision not to proceed with finalizing the Budget was agreed to publicly, several weeks ago. We agreed to wait until the legislation is passed…Then suddenly the budget got pushed ahead with no consultation. We had no choice (but to not attend the meeting).”

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