This week the Region of Peel lays out its strategy to attract funding for critical issues, including housing and climate change mitigation.
The Town of Caledon will hear information about ongoing air quality concerns due to industrial activity while the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board will consider a request for an Indigenous student trustee position.
The signs of increasing social isolation, discrimination, food insecurity and precarious employment are all around us. Walk out your door or scan the latest headlines to bear witness as the impacts of growing income disparity, mental health crisis and the mistreatment of vulnerable populations tear our social fabric apart.
A coalition of the province’s non-profit sector partners is calling on all levels of government to use public funds, for the public interest.
Ian Williams, University of Toronto English professor and inductee of the Brampton Arts Walk of Fame, spoke to a full house inside the Cyril Clark Lecture Theatre recently about his latest book, Disorientation: Being Black in the World, as part of Brampton Library’s events for Black History Month.
Since Jason Tamming returned to head Brampton’s communications department, the City and the man back in charge of information in and out of City Hall refuse to acknowledge he is once again employed by the municipality. Tamming was first hired in 2019, after the election of Patrick Brown, who has ties to the former Niagara Region employee through Conservative politics. He was fired by Niagara after Ontario’s Ombudsman highlighted Tamming’s corrupt behaviour in a CAO hiring scandal.
He departed Brampton last year when a majority of councillors pushed back against Brown for hiring and procurement moves under his leadership, but Tamming is now back in his old role.
A staff presentation Thursday showed the PC government’s Bill 23, to build 1.5 million homes across Ontario in just eight years, will create huge financial challenges for the Region of Peel, limiting its ability to focus growth in urban areas and create complete, walkable communities.
The PC government’s housing plan has created a financial black hole for the Region of Peel. If the hundreds of thousands of units mandated by the province are to be supported with critical infrastructure, roads and services, the Region will need to come up with more than $20 billion, which it doesn’t have.
If some developers get their way and force more sprawling subdivisions into municipal plans, taxpayers could be on the hook to cover billions of extra dollars needed to run costly infrastructure out to far flung properties already purchased by builders.
The City of Mississauga and the Town of Caledon are making it clear they will be unable to fulfill the demands of the PC government’s Bill 23 and its call for hundreds of thousands of housing units without significant assistance to build the infrastructure to support the massive growth.
In the City of Brampton, the internal audit department remains critically understaffed, raising significant questions about a key accountability mechanism for local taxpayers.
As climate change intensifies across the globe, there is international consensus that our fight must include a focus on education.
Through the EcoSchools Canada initiative and other programs specific to the region, the Peel District School Board is introducing vital education to help slow the rate of climate change.
The Canadian government has failed to address the climate crisis; in doing so it has violated the Charter rights of young people across Canada. That’s the case a group of youth are making, to convince the court system that the complaint should go to trial after it was initially dismissed in 2020.
The legal strategy is part of a tactical shift in the environmental movement as judicial systems are increasingly being used to hold governments accountable.
The City of Mississauga is reaffirming its support for independence after a motion brought forward by Mayor Bonnie Crombie on Wednesday called for Council to push for the city’s departure from the Region of Peel.
The separation, which has been met with inaction from the PC government, would result in larger cost savings for the City and enable it to accelerate the PC housing agenda for future growth, Council says.
A location hasn’t been decided yet for Brampton Library’s Chinguacousy branch, which is now required to vacate in order to make room for Toronto Metropolitan University’s proposed new medical school, which it claims will be opened in 2025, even though numerous questions about the ambitious plan remain unanswered.
Former Mississauga MP Stella Ambler wants to provide concerned citizens across Canada an outlet to hold their local councillors accountable for waste, corruption or other misdeeds.
Municipal Watch, launched in January, hopes to become an official opposition to local mayors and councillors who abuse their positions. Ambler intends to fill a gaping hole in a local accountability system that is failing, as elected officials flout toothless rules and democratic rights are stripped away.
Mississauga’s leaders have tried to break the city away from regional governance for decades. With a population approaching one million, changes to municipal structures and housing demands under Bill 23, Mayor Bonnie Crombie wants to back up her campaign promise and finally make Mississauga a standalone city.
Also this week, Caledon looks to approve its 2023 budget and the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board details efforts to ease the transition for students into destreamed science courses as the discriminatory practice is being dismantled across the region’s publicly funded school system.
On Groundhog Day 2022 as an opportunity to think about how our human actions impact the environment that shapes our lives, residents travelled to the hamlet of Belfountain in Caledon to participate in the first Walk of Reflection.
Environmentalist and fierce advocate Jenni Le Forestier, who passed long before her time, wanted to continue the event annually—so in 2023, residents organized the second one in her honour.
In late 2022, the provincial government steamrolled through Queen’s Park with Bill 23, and subsequent cuts to the Greenbelt Act to build 1.5 million new homes.
Environmental protections were slashed and the mandate of conservation authorities was dramatically curtailed. Despite the alarming moves, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority have big projects planned for 2023.
Following Patrick Brown’s reelection, City staff, led by a new CAO, have done a flip-flop in the handling of Muneeza Sheikh, the controversial integrity commissioner with past ties to Brown. After being let go by the former council, she has been rehired despite a lawsuit she filed against the City and the six individuals who voted for her contract to be terminated, initiating an investigation into her initial hiring under Brown (he later cancelled that investigation).
Now, staff appear to be acting politically in disparaging those six members and defending Sheikh—following Brown’s lead—despite a previous legal report from senior officials that highlighted the justification for her firing and determined her lawsuit had no merit.
Harm reduction is a critical piece of any strategy to mitigate the ongoing impacts of the opioid crisis.
The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario wants the Doug Ford government to use all the tools at its disposal, including approval of new overdose prevention sites and safe consumption sites.
Waves of students from around the world, but most commonly from India, arrive in Brampton each year to pursue post-secondary education. Many find themselves isolated, without support or housing.
Regional staff detail the negative impacts of the Doug Ford PC government’s plan to bulldoze 7,400 acres of the once protected Greenbelt, to make way for 50,000 homes.
After years of inaction, Peel councillors have approved one of the most ambitious housing budgets the region has seen. But with the Region only able to meet 30 percent of the growing need for housing assistance, the crisis will get much worse unless higher levels of government take responsibility.
The federal and provincial governments have chronically underfunded the system, leading to a rise in mental health and addictions issues, more work for the police and further strain on an already stretched healthcare system.
The Justin Trudeau Liberal government has warned it will not hesitate to protect species at risk, and, most recently, suggested it has the authority to stop the Ontario PC government’s Greenbelt carve outs.
But the federal government does not have a consistent record around enforcement of environmental protections, raising concern their words will not be followed by action.
During critical weather events, a portion of Peel’s most vulnerable population has to get creative when trying to escape bone-chilling conditions. The first major cold spell of the year highlights the lack of shelter support for the unhoused population.
With Peel’s shelter occupancy currently averaging 117 percent of capacity annually, more direct intervention is required to meet the critical need for help when the weather puts lives at risk.
Melissa Merritt, previously found guilty in the murder of her husband Caleb Harrison, has been granted a new trial.
The Ontario Court of Appeal found the trial judge made errors when directing the jury on how to handle critical pieces of evidence that were used against Merritt. Within four years, three members of the Harrison family were found dead in the same Mississauga home.
When Bill 23 was brought to the table, proposing a range of changes that would have devastating consequences for the natural environment, a group of scientists banded together to provide crucial information on wetland habitats.
Now that the Bill has passed, limiting the power of conservation authorities, Save Ontario Wetlands is hoping to provide necessary expertise to municipalities when dealing with development proposals.
Peel Paramedic Services is failing to meet nearly all of its provincial and regionally set response times for medical emergencies.
Clogged local hospitals, a surge in demand for service and a strained workforce are all being blamed for the lagging performance.
The service is requesting a significant increase to its budget to hire more staff and buy more ambulances to keep Peel residents safe.
Brampton councillors will be reviewing data this week which clearly shows residential development continues to overshadow employment and commercial growth.
The City of Mississauga is set to approve its 2023 budget while the Region of Peel will hear from its trio of conservation authorities about funding required to perform valuable environmental work in the face of Premier Doug Ford’s disastrous Bill 23 which strips them of numerous powers.
Population, employment and municipal infrastructure will all need to be rethought according to a Brampton staff report to Council after the passing of the Doug Ford PC government’s hyper housing legislation, Bill 23. Brampton’s future is now in limbo, as planners and elected officials decide how to move forward with a recently designed growth strategy (created with the help of thousands of residents) that might have to be torn up.
Housing and transportation are the focus of climate change-related funding included in the proposed 2023 Region of Peel budget.
The funding of initiatives in other sectors may provide more funds toward mitigation and adaptation.
Peel’s police chief is arguing a significant increase is needed to his budget for more officers to meet the overwhelming demand.
But money poured into policing, instead of housing or community support programs, could actually increase the police workload as it takes funding away from the “upstream” initiatives that prevent crime before it happens.
Despite creating their own problem, regional councillors appear ready to rubber stamp the chief’s request.
Brampton Council made waves with its motion to ban outdoor election signs after the by-law department was swamped with violation complaints in the recent municipal election.
Data obtained by The Pointer show the same members of council who voted unanimously for the ban, had their names on 1,083 signs that violated the very rules they claimed to be concerned about. Mayor Patrick Brown was the worst offender with 333 signs that broke the rules.
The PDSB trustee who led the internal fight to transform the troubled board, says she is glad the province has restored the governance powers of elected officials, but many Black families are voicing disappointment over the lack of community consultation before the decision by the Province to end its supervision of Ontario’s second largest school board.
The Ministry of Education took over governance from trustees two-and-a-half-years ago after disturbing discriminatory behaviour by members who caused irreparable harm to students.
A new partnership between the Peel Regional Police and Timea’s Cause, a survivor-led organization at the forefront of pushing policies to better support those who have experienced human trafficking, will see thousands of Peel officers trained to spot the signs of this pervasive crime.
It makes Peel police the first law enforcement agency in Canada to implement such training. It’s a significant step forward to raise awareness and knowledge about a crime that disproportionately impacts women and girls in Peel.
The TRCA has elected Toronto City Councillor Paul Ainslie as the new Chair of the Board of Directors. The decision comes as conservation authorities are increasingly under fire from the Doug Ford government, which has stripped away many of the powers that previously allowed CAs to safeguard ecosystems against development. They will need to find new and creative ways to continue protecting watersheds across the province.
At a council meeting Tuesday, Caledon Mayor Annette Groves brought forward a motion to eliminate a pay raise for council positions that was voted through in July of last year. The drastic pay raise caused outrage in the community while so many are struggling to make ends meet due to crippling inflation. Despite Groves’ best efforts to keep the conversation civil, the debate quickly became heated.
A staff report presented by the Region of Peel to council this week analyzes the impacts of Bill 23 on individual capital projects. The PC government’s housing legislation will make it more difficult to provide housing in Peel for those most in need.
The loss of revenues (under the Bill) that developers have traditionally paid will put pressure on water, wastewater and other key services.
Patrick Brown and the Doug Ford PC government continue to play chicken with their constituents’ healthcare, and the Region of Peel is not prepared to step in. It is not in a position to fund part of the local share requirement for the redevelopment and expansion of Brampton’s Peel Memorial healthcare facility or a new cancer centre.
Brown unsuccessfully opposed a special City of Brampton hospital levy last year, despite the dire need for hundreds of new beds in the community where hallway healthcare is the norm.
After voting against allowing cannabis stores within the municipality, Mississauga City Council is being asked again to reconsider its previous decisions. The request came in a letter from the Mississauga Board of Trade, which calls on local elected officials to review their current policy that forbids cannabis retail and asks the City to pass a resolution in 2023 to “opt in” to the province’s cannabis industry to displace the unregulated, illicit market.
Housing minister Steve Clark is officially under investigation by the provincial government’s integrity commissioner over his role in legislation that removes 7,400 acres of Greenbelt land for future development.
If the investigation finds wrongdoing, it’s unclear what the outcome will be as any penalty or reprimand against Clark must be approved by a strong PC majority within Queen’s Park.
For three seasons, any hunter with a small game licence and a shotgun has been allowed to kill up to 15 double-crested cormorants a day between September and December.
The PC government, which approved this hunt in 2020, says it is a sound wildlife management practice. However, a closer look at the science behind the decision, or lack thereof, and the near total absence of monitoring of cormorant populations, raises significant concern about the Ford government’s reasons for targeting a native Canadian species.
As the Town of Erin continues to push forward with pre-construction on the wastewater treatment facility, set to be fully operational by 2028, residents of the Town and nearby communities are rallying against the project.
Citizens within the Town are concerned about connection costs while those on the outskirts are worried about depreciated property values. Many are also worried about the threat caused by sending effluent discharge into the West Credit River and what it will do to the surrounding ecosystems.
Peel police have struggled with mental health calls that have escalated into violent interactions. Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Teams and Crisis Outreach Assessment Support Teams have helped immensely, but the complexity of cases continues to pose a challenge.
The Canadian Mental Health Association Peel Dufferin is adding another layer to crisis response in Peel with the launch of its new pilot program, aimed at providing support to individuals in mental health crisis before police intervention is required.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is once again fighting to pull the City out of Peel Region, a crusade that’s been mired in controversy over the years and was previously turned down by the PC government in 2019.
After once again centering her October reelection campaign on the promise of Mississauga’s independence, making it a single-tier municipality like many cities much smaller than hers, Crombie has made it clear she is not backing down.
Two former Peel Children’s Aid Society employees have been charged with numerous offences in relation to an alleged purchase and reimbursement scheme, which allegedly defrauded the child welfare organization of more than $250,000.
The former employees were expected to make their first appearance in court on January 9, but the date has now been pushed to February to allow for more evidence to be gathered.
At a time when the online exploitation of children is reaching historic levels, a new report details how schools across Canada are failing to protect kids from potential abuse by those who are meant to be mentors in their lives.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is calling on governments of all levels to implement new systems to protect children from abuse by educators at school.
When the announcement broke recently that scientists had achieved “ignition” for the first time ever, creating more energy output than the energy used to create the gain, physicists around the world heralded the dawn of a new era in our fight to prevent catastrophic climate change.
As the initial euphoria around nuclear fusion has worn off experts are reminding the world that renewable sources of energy are still the key to dramatically reducing carbon emissions. Fusion should be added to our toolbox for emissions free energy but it might not reach our grid for decades.
The National Wildlife Centre is set to start construction on its first permanent medical facility in Caledon East in 2023. Dr. Sherri Cox co-founded the organization nine years ago, building a vast network of professionals throughout Canada and beyond. In phase one of the construction, a fully operational field hospital will be built for surrounding wildlife centres and the public.
Phase two will come later, with a focus on providing a cutting-edge facility for teaching wildlife medicine to veterinarians and rescuers across the world.
During a press conference late last year, Peel police celebrated the success of Project Zucaritas, an 11-month investigation that led to the seizure of $25 million worth of illegal narcotics – the largest drug bust in the region’s history, police said.
Officials claimed the bust will significantly disrupt the region's drug trafficking networks; it was the latest proof that these insidious criminal organizations have a growing presence in Peel.
Driven by his authoritarian tendencies and disdain for urbanites, Ontario’s Premier is determined to wrest power from large municipalities. Former Brampton councillor Terry Miller warns Peel and other regions that local decision making based on community values is under threat by a man who has his own agenda. He does not care about what the people want.
Through a partnership between Osprey Valley and Golf Canada, Caledon will become Canada’s new home for the sport’s national headquarters.
But public and private courses and those owned by municipalities are facing unique challenges, from the demands of the game in a time-starved world to the impacts on greenspaces at a time when sustainability is crucial to the planet’s future.
Countless stories of love, loss and politics are encased within a historical building in downtown Brampton. Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives (PAMA) collects and preserves the Region’s history to ensure the stories of the past are never lost.
Staff work tirelessly to showcase the rich culture that has shaped Peel over more than a century. The work can be tricky, requiring a gentle hand to preserve historic documents vulnerable to the vagaries of time.
The slew of legislation imposed by the Ford government, in its effort to push the subdivision development industry’s agenda, will cause wide-ranging damage to the various natural water systems across Ontario.
The consequences to ecosystems and the human population that depends on them will be devastating.
