A day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued yet another alarming report detailing what’s at stake if we don’t reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, Premier Doug Ford and Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney announced a contract has been awarded to start early work on the Bradford Bypass, a 16-kilometre, 400-series highway.
The full-speed-ahead approach comes with no cost estimate released to the public and without all the proper studies usually required for such a significant transportation project.
The deferral of the Region of Peel’s Official Plan, following a motion from Councillor Carolyn Parrish, has increased tensions between members of the public and councillors. The move delays a final decision for two weeks so a few loose ends can be tied up.
This has prompted backlash from residents who requested the Region defer the Official Plan, which will open nearly 11,000 acres for future development, until after the provincial election on June 2.
The approval of nearly 11,000 acres for further development will have disastrous impacts on Peel’s natural world.
Despite promises and commitments to protect the region’s greenspaces, and council’s opposition to Highway 413 (which would lead to the same consequences councillors are about to trigger), the potential expansion could be approved by Peel’s elected officials in a final vote on Thursday.
The future of Peel is at stake Thursday, with Regional Council facing a decision on how hundreds of thousands of future residents will be accommodated. Staff are recommending the urban boundary be expanded by almost 11,000 acres, and last week’s planning meeting signalled elected officials will likely go along.
Meanwhile, dozens of residents and advocates want to change the trajectory of Peel Region forever, by moving to more dense, transit friendly complete communities as the climate and other changes around the way many want to live inform how smart growth should unfold.
In a letter to Brampton councillors, David Wheeler, a consultant who worked on the Brampton University project with links to Councillor Rowena Santos, is requesting a continuation of the abandoned plan. Council more or less scrapped the idea after consultant costs were revealed.
A report from Mayor Bonnie Crombie’s Black caucus comes before council, and Region of Peel council will decide on whether to open almost 11,000 acres for development, despite intense pushback from the community.
Lakeview has become a hot spot for future developments. Lakeshore Road East is checkered with new project proposal signs featuring plans that will transform the city’s eastern waterfront from a mix of industrial spaces and post-war subdivisions to a modern coastal urban destination.
But meetings between residents and developers have left both sides opposing the other’s vision for the future. City staff have tried to alleviate some of the tension between the sides to ensure careful transitions between low density residential neighbourhoods and features that will accommodate (and define) the coming growth.
After years of pleading by residents, numerous motions by the NDP asking for significant hospital investments in Brampton, and two years after City Council declared a healthcare emergency, demanding 850 new beds, the PC government announced more funding ahead of the June 2 election. But stakeholders are getting nervous in the absence of details from the Province and the organization that manages the city’s two main facilities.
On Thursday, hundreds of people shared their desire for the Region of Peel to freeze its urban boundary and avoid unlocking 10,000 acres of land for future development.
Councillors asked no questions of the numerous residents, doctors, farmers and environmental advocates who made the case for preventing more environmentally destructive development. Elected officials instead sided with regional staff who say the extra land is needed to accommodate Peel’s growing population.
The Region of Peel is recommending the addition of more than 10,000 acres of land for development over the next 30 years. The space is needed in order to accommodate future growth, staff argue.
Hundreds of residents and environmental advocates disagree, stating the scale of development will do significant damage to Peel’s natural spaces, impact Ontario’s fight against climate change and lock in sprawling forms of auto-dependent residential growth.
This week at the Region of Peel, the planning and growth committee will set the tone for how Peel will accommodate massive population increase in the decades ahead. More sprawl? Or freeze the urban boundary and develop denser communities? Residents and developers will appear Thursday to plead their case.
In Brampton, delays around constructing a much needed transit maintenance facility, to relieve a bottleneck preventing the growth of the system, have led to “significant cost escalation”. Staff are going back to the drawing board.
Doug Ford's PC government made two perplexing moves shortly after taking office: the elimination of the electric vehicle subsidy which tanked sales; then the release of a carbon reduction plan that relied heavily on dramatically increasing the number of electric vehicles sold in the province.
Experts are calling recent commitments to expand charging infrastructure ineffective without incentives to buy green vehicles. They want Ford to reintroduce the rebates he eliminated when claiming they were helping rich people buy Teslas.
Just over a month after a fire at the office of Mississauga MP Peter Fonseca, Peel Regional Police have charged one man with arson, break and enter and three counts of mischief.
Police continue to seek information about the incident.
Brown wants to be Canada’s next prime minister.
Canadians of all political stripes should consider the damage he has caused as mayor in the City of Brampton, where a majority of councillors say “democracy is under siege” as a result of his disturbing leadership.
After four years of tax freezes, the need for a second hospital forces Brampton to begin collecting funds through a special levy. Approval in committee Wednesday signals it will be finalized next week in full council.
The City is asking the PC government for the 850 beds it demanded, not the 250 offered, and is hoping the Region will shoulder part of the local funding needed to get the Peel Memorial expansion off the ground.
The future of the Peel Memorial Phase 2 expansion remains unclear, as local taxpayers are being asked to cover $125 million for a project that might not even create a second hospital in the city.
Brampton Civic remains the only full-service hospital in the city with the only fully functional emergency department, as residents wait to learn Peel Memorial’s fate.
Parents with toddlers have been desperate for $10-a-day child care in Ontario but the flurry of excitement over this week’s announcement between the provincial and federal governments was lost on many in Peel.
Regional staff released a report last week outlining numerous issues in Peel, where securing daycare spaces is a monumental task. A dire lack of child care staff in the region is part of the problem.
At budget time, Brampton councillors voted against the establishment of a levy to help raise further funds for the expansion of Peel Memorial. Now, with limited options to help cover its share of the expanded healthcare facility, councillors are reconsidering that decision.
As part of a review into issues of systemic racism at the Peel District School Board by the Ministry of Education, a pair of reports have been released detailing gaps in the system that impact students with special needs, and a number of ways the PDSB can improve the educational experience for South Asian and Sikh youth.
Snover Dhillon, who was convicted of fraud before he worked closely with Patrick Brown and was allegedly involved in fraudulent nomination schemes under the former Ontario PC leader, has been named by Indian police as the alleged main conspirator in a high-profile murder case. Brown’s team says Dhillon has not worked with him since he became mayor.
The latest report by the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario found 88 percent of Black nurses experienced racism or discrimination and about 63 percent of respondents say their mental health was affected because of racial microaggressions and systemic discrimination at work.
The community in Peel where visible minorities make up the vast majority of the population often lacks representation. RNAO’s Black Nurses Task Force leads by example and put forward 19 recommendations to combat anti-Black racism during a recent virtual conference.
The scale of the aggregate industry does not align with the sheer lack of regulations in place to contain expansion of these operations.
The industry is already approved to remove 13 times more stone, sand and gravel from the heart of Ontario every year than we actually use in the province. Yet, proposals to expand into more farmland, more natural spaces and more sensitive ecosystems continue to flood in.
A new campaign is pushing to hit the pause button.
Response to the recent attack at a Mississauga Mosque illustrates the challenges of ascribing intent before all the evidence has been carefully weighed. After quietly entering the premises the suspect filled the room with bear spray before being tackled to the ground. Police have released few details on the motive for his actions, after initially suggesting hate could have been a factor.
In hopes of convincing the Doug Ford government to foot the full bill for Brampton’s desperately needed expansion of Peel Memorial, Regional Council unanimously decided to push Queen’s Park to cover the usual local share for hospital funding.
Healthcare partners serving Peel, particularly William Osler in Brampton, face an uphill task to cover tens of millions of dollars the Province typically demands from local stakeholders in order to get massive projects off the ground.
To assist those most impacted by Peel’s ongoing housing crisis, the Region of Peel is working to create additional healthcare resources for the region’s homeless population.
Peel staff have concluded 40,000 child care spaces are needed over the next four years to deal with surging demand.
Mississauga Councillor Carolyn Parrish is moving a motion to continue the City’s opposition to Highway 413.
The decision by federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault to not designate the Bradford Bypass for an impact assessment is being challenged in court.
Environmental organizations claim the decision was disproportionately reliant on decisions made by the former environment minister and did not adequately consider new evidence about the destructive highway plan being pushed by the Ontario PC government.
A prominent Toronto soccer player, with a history of coaching and playing in Mississauga, has been stuck overseas after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Denys Rylskyi and his family have been living in Dnipro since 2020, but the recent Russian invasion has upended their lives and made them more desperate to return to what they left behind in Canada.
The “sky has yet to fall” in cities that have allowed legal cannabis stores, and Mayor Bonnie Crombie says it’s time council considers allowing the growing industry to make a place for itself within Mississauga.
The city is still one of few municipalities that does not allow cannabis shops to operate within its borders, forcing retailers like House of Cannabis, a small Toronto business, to target Mississauga residents through a delivery service.
The Port Credit Library has been sinking deeper into the swampy earth upon which it was built for a number of years. The foundational pillars have decayed past the point of being safe.
The dilemma facing councillors, as they invest millions to preserve the building, is how to manage the growing need of other aging facilities across Mississauga.
A list of 55 recommendations released by the Ontario government’s Housing Affordability Task Force has been widely panned by housing advocates and municipal stakeholders.
Mississauga council says the task force, which lacked municipal representation, has made a number of recommendations to strip power away from local planning officials and residents, while making influence easier for developers.
A relatively young city, it may appear that Mississauga has little in the way of valuable historic landmarks. But heritage buildings surrounded by mature trees are peppered throughout the city, offering valuable opportunities for residents to connect with the history of the place they call home.
Those tasked with preserving these features need to carefully examine and prioritize the best methods for saving pieces of Mississauga’s past, while not getting in the way of its future.
Mississauga staff have concluded that without a complete transition of MiWay to zero-emission buses, the City will not achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030.
A recent staff report details the expensive undertaking that lays ahead for Mississauga and how action needs to happen immediately.
A day after she threatened to sue them if they terminated her contract, that is exactly what a majority of Brampton councillors did on Friday, terminating the employment of now former integrity commissioner Muneeza Sheikh. After expressing concern over the amount she had billed the taxpayers of Brampton since taking on the role in 2019, a group of elected officials took the bold step to replace her.
Peel Children’s Aid Society’s CEO has been on administrative leave since November pending a board investigation and now the director of finance has also stepped back.
The organization is on a journey to respond to sharp criticism raised in a provincial review published in October 2021. That process is being completed by the Peel CAS board and the Province, with Queen’s Park ultimately responsible if the board fails.
After their colleagues on the other side of the council divide violated in camera rules by revealing what took place during a closed session meeting Wednesday—stating publicly that others are attempting to terminate the contract of integrity commissioner Muneeza Sheikh—councillors have told The Pointer they will not be intimidated by a legal threat issued to them Thursday by Sheikh. She vowed legal action against them if they follow through with terminating her contract.
A judge has tossed out a defamation lawsuit filed by local pediatrician Dr. Kulvinder Gill against several doctors and media outlets, including The Pointer.
Gill alleged she was defamed when numerous media outlets reported on comments she made on Twitter in 2020 downplaying the risks of COVID-19 and stating “we don’t need a vaccine.”
After few election commitments from the Liberals toward transit, to help the transformation of Canada’s largest suburb as it pursues a more urban future, Mississauga is welcoming a huge funding boost with open arms.
Last week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, swarmed by elected officials, announced funding for the Dundas BRT in partnership with the provincial government and the City. The major investment will help commuters save up to 17 minutes per trip while keeping more cars off the roads.
Caledon council voted no to a motion asking to reconsider its support for the GTA West Corridor, the 413 Highway plan being aggressively pushed by the Doug Ford PC government ahead of June’s provincial election.
Two of the three council members that voted down the motion did not offer any explanation, while Caledon Mayor Allan Thompson called it “short-sighted”.
The defamation lawsuit by Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown against CTV, following explosive reports of alleged sexual misconduct broadcast by CTV in 2018 that led to Brown stepping down as PC leader, has been settled.
Few details of any settlement between the two parties are available, and little information has been provided to clear the air around allegations against Brown, which he denies but the accusers have consistently maintained are true. The news reports are still available on the media outlet’s platforms.
The Ontario Land Tribunal—previously the LPAT, and the OMB before that—has long frustrated municipalities as an unelected body with the power to overturn the decisions of elected officials, and the will of the public.
Staring down a housing affordability crisis and the looming effects of climate change—both of which could be mitigated by smart land use policies—a new request to scrap the OLT looks to put the power back into the hands of municipalities.
A jam-packed Committee of Council meeting in Brampton promises several key discussions to continue moving on from the turbulent leadership of recently fired CAO David Barrick. Councillors will discuss its current integrity commissioner, unfunded projects and a questionable expense introduced by Mayor Patrick Brown in 2019.
Brampton Transit can claim a big win through a new loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Mississauga is planning its own electric transit transition, and the Region of Peel is addressing hospital and hospice funding.
A lack of judges to hear cases has been an ongoing issue in the Region of Peel—even before COVID-19.
Two years later, case backlogs have only grown. The City of Mississauga fears it may soon be unable to provide adequate access to justice.
The pace of growth and depletion of resources is unsustainable, destroying our environment in the process. Yet development has continued unabated and despite pledges to combat climate change from world leaders, carbon emissions continue to rise.
In the second of a 10-part series on the United Nations Decade of Restoration, The Pointer analyzes how we can invest in restoration efforts on the ground, and how preserving nature is a key solution in the fight to save our planet.
City planners set up an open consultation with the public to discuss their plans for a new tool. Inclusionary zoning has been on the minds of many since Toronto adopted it in November.
Now it’s Mississauga’s turn to take the leap hoping to fix the housing crisis one project at a time.
Mississauga staff have strong words for the recommendations listed in Ontario's Housing Affordability Task Force report, noting that many of them won’t contribute to the stated goal of improving housing affordability.
In Brampton, council is considering alternative voting methods for the upcoming municipal election, and is looking to have the interim CAO identify departments in need of auditing.
The TRCA provides an update on a number of critical watershed plans.
One in four Ontarians are now seeking help for their mental health needs, according to a new survey by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA).
In the Region of Peel, which receives disproportionately less funding per capita than other areas of the province, the jump in demand adds more pressure to a sector that is already sprinting to keep up.
A wave of Minister’s Zoning Orders from developers across Ontario has raised concerns among environmentalists and urban planners. They say developers are using the tool to sidestep the proper process and ram through projects without adequate consultation with experts and the public.
A motion adopted by Caledon council could restore some order to the process in the town. Will the rest of Peel follow suit?
Russian missiles and bombs are falling across Ukraine and on its capital city, Kyiv, as Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Europe’s largest country continues.
In Peel, a large Ukrainian diaspora is watching on in horror. Friends and relatives are worried for loved ones stuck among the chaos, while also trying to process a war unfolding on European soil for the first time in decades.
Trade unions are shouldering the responsibility of combating anti-Black racism on construction sites across the GTA, while promoting an equitable, diverse and safe workspace for skilled tradespeople in Ontario.
During Black History Month, the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario along with the Carpenters’ National Office shares a message of solidarity with workers of colour.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association has succeeded in securing a $5,000 “good faith” retention bonus for frontline nurses. The ounce of relief comes for nurses exhausted by close to two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organizations representing nurses across the province are welcoming this “first-step”, but are expecting more from the Ford government.
The connection between a fire at the office of Mississauga MP Peter Fonseca early Tuesday morning, and his vote Monday evening in support of using the controversial Emergencies Act remains unclear, but police have deemed the blaze suspicious and believe the MP was the target of the fire which damaged multiple units in the plaza.
The fire was quickly under control and no injuries were reported. An investigation is underway.
Brampton City Council will hold a special meeting this week to deal with its procedural bylaw—a point of contention throughout a tumultuous period that culminated in the departure of the City’s disgraced CAO on February 11.
In Mississauga, the City is launching a new blueprint for attracting tech businesses to try and bolster itself as a leader in the innovation sector. A motion being discussed at the Region of Peel on Thursday could trigger more development activity on Mayfield Road. Regional council will also deal with numerous reports on homelessness and the housing crisis.
