A recent eviction notice from Chartwell Heritage Glen Retirement Residence has left the seniors who reside in the home and their families in a state of disbelief, scrambling to find living arrangements. Their fixed income puts most alternatives out of reach.
The City of Mississauga has sent a letter to Chartwell and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing requesting measures to assist the tenants who learned a few weeks ago that they will have to leave the facility.
A group of local activists calling themselves Democracy Caledon held a community meeting Wednesday to hear concerns from local residents about a collection of decisions around a huge land development scheme being made by council, particularly Mayor Annette Groves, and her use of Strong Mayor powers to force it through without proper public consultation.
The embattled mayor attended the meeting, appeared on the defensive, and provided little reassurance to residents that she was taking their issues seriously.
The Mississauga byelection is nearing its halfway point. From announcing new endorsements to launching campaign offices and delivering stump speeches, candidates are working hard to grab the attention of local voters.
A new poll shows former councillor Carolyn Parrish remains the frontrunner in the race with a little over seven weeks to go until the June 10th vote.
The trial for Marino Cader, former director of finance for the Peel Children’s Aid Society, has been postponed once again after the court heard Peel Regional Police failed to provide necessary evidence that has been in its possession since at least 2022 in a timely manner. The Justice of the Peace chastized the PRP for delaying a case that has significant public interest involving the region’s most vulnerable.
Updated estimates from the Crown allege Cader defrauded the organization of approximately $180,000.
Caledon Mayor Annette Groves is using her Strong Mayor powers to push through a collection of zoning changes to facilitate a massive amount of development, with little consultation from residents who will be impacted. The move follows the approval of an updated Official Plan that ignored concerns from citizens about watered-down environmental protections, and the revelation of a secretive contract signed between the mayor and the Town’s new CAO.
Residents are hosting a public forum today, April 17th, to bring awareness to their mounting concerns.
A new agreement between the federal and provincial governments has many Ontarians worried the environmentally damaging Highway 413 has been given the greenlight.
While questions are swirling about a new “working group” being established to study and minimize the proposed highway's environmental impacts, there are numerous pieces of federal legislation still standing in the way of construction.
Through a slew of funding announcements last week, the Liberal government outlined its main strategies to fight Canada's housing crisis.
The promises include billions of dollars in new initiatives to protect tenants and stop ballooning rental rates while incentivizing builders to construct more affordable housing. Peel ACORN, a housing advocacy group, says it is waiting on more details, and tighter legislation attached to the announcements, to determine what the impact will be for Peel residents.
The Region has drawn up a plan to help the increasing number of asylum seekers arriving in Peel, but staff say the strategy is contingent on funding from upper levels of government.
To date, Ottawa has only provided funding to reimburse the Region for costs incurred in 2023 after a significant spike in asylum claimants and $7 million for a new reception centre at Pearson Airport.
The City of Mississauga has updated its Green Development Standards in an effort to decrease dangerous climate emissions and protect residents and their homes from weather-related catastrophes.
The decision comes in the wake of a report from the Insurance Bureau of Canada that found the past four years all listed in the Top 10 costliest years for climate disasters in the country.
With Mississauga voters set to select a new mayor June 10, frontrunner Carolyn Parrish is starting to enjoy support from some well known leaders in the city.
Rookie councillor Alvin Tedjo has also won the backing of two other first-time councillors and one veteran.
As Prime Minister Trudeau’s popularity continues to decline, his environmental commitments are being challenged. The federal Conservatives are making false claims about the impacts of policies such as the carbon tax. Will Liberals walk into the trap and alienate many of their core supporters, or hold strong on positions that many Canadians prioritize?
Patrick Brown repeatedly attacked Gurpreet Dhillon, accusing him of sexual misconduct despite no charges ever being laid against the former councillor, and the mayor blamed Dhillon’s alleged conduct for a divide on council that marred the previous term of office.
According to documentation obtained by The Pointer the City of Brampton has known since at least October that Dhillon’s one-time accuser withdrew her allegations against him. He was suspended without pay by Brown and the rest of council in 2020 after controversial Integrity Commissioner Muneeza Sheikh released a report that found Dhillon had committed sexual misconduct, despite no charges by police. Dhillon has always denied the allegations and has now sent officials a draft lawsuit against the City.
On March 7th, Brampton Fire responded to a house fire that left three dead. Less than a week later, Mississauga Fire reported two dead following an early morning fire.
The tragic events are a disturbing statistic for Peel fire services which work tirelessly to educate residents on fire prevention and safety.
Since the Ward 5 council seat was declared vacant on March 20 following the resignation of Carolyn Parrish to enter the mayoral race, seven candidates have registered. The byelection will take place the same day as the one set for the mayoral race, on June 10. The Pointer reached out to the candidates to find out which issues will be a focus as they head out on the campaign trail across Malton and the rest of the ward.
April 8th’s solar eclipse is a once in a lifetime celestial event.
With Niagara Falls in an ideal location to observe the natural phenomenon, local tourism looks to recapture some of the foreign visitation lost during the pandemic, while the Niagara Regional Police prepare for the possible influx of 1 million people, under a “State of Emergency” declaration that was just issued by the Region.
The PC government, after cancelling its controversial plans to dissolve the Region of Peel, is now looking to move some critical services down to the local municipalities. CUPE Local 966, one of the unions which raised concerns over the now-reversed legislation, is once again drawing attention to job security issues and possible privatization, claiming key stakeholders are not being engaged in discussions that could impact long-time Peel employees.
Mississauga's downtown LRT loop, cancelled by the PCs during their previous term of office, made its way back into the Doug Ford government’s budget for 2024. Among the $67.5 billion earmarked over 10 years for public transit, putting the Mississauga loop back into the Hurontario project was highlighted in the budget document as a priority, but there are few details included.
The Northern Tornadoes Project is doing the heavy lifting to provide a better picture of just how many tornadoes touch down across Canada, and where.
This knowledge will prove critical as weather patterns are altered by climate change, informing the creation of valuable life-saving tools.
The City of Toronto has admitted it is not on track to reach its goal of being net zero by 2040. It is not alone, as big cities like Brampton struggle to reach critical targets under a PC government that has pushed policies counter to green municipal goals. A recent study by University of Waterloo researchers concluded many cities are not even reporting their progress on sustainability commitments.
The latest Liaison Strategies poll shows political veteran Carolyn Parrish is still in the lead to become Mississauga’s next mayor. But her margin has narrowed, since a January poll, to five percentage points ahead of her nearest competitor, Dipika Damerla, among decided voters. Residents will go to the ballot box June 10 to decide Bonnie Crombie’s successor.
International students at Algoma University’s Brampton campus currently do not have any housing provided through the institution. It has not yet offered a timeline for any plans, and its current students, like many across the GTA, are struggling to find affordable housing options.
The Drug Awareness Society of Toronto wants to address the link between youth who are exposed to alcohol and drugs at a young age and adults who are dependent on substances. Working for more than a decade to raise awareness around the dangers of alcohol consumption and substance abuse through seminars at schools and Gurdwaras, the organization is once again challenging Punjabi-Canadians to confront an all-too common problem.
A 66-year-old Brampton man who stabbed his wife to death on a city trail during their evening walk together in 2021 has been sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for 13 years.
According to court documents, increased isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the man’s state of mind when he “snapped” and stabbed his wife more than 30 times.
Despite multiple attempts by Caledon residents to ensure protections of natural features and sensitive ecological systems, Town council members went ahead last week and approved a new Official Plan which will guide growth until 2051. Without the requested safeguards it could turn the area’s numerous natural oases into targets for urban development.
The Peel District School Board recently put out a call for community members to be part of a new committee to help address continued racial inequity in disciplinary measures impacting Black and Indigenous students.
Their representation in the rates of these disciplinary measures is double their overall representation in the board. Local advocate David Bosveld, a member of the original committee that was doing equity work for more than two years, says leadership disbanded it without explanation and left questions from original members unanswered.
The Pointer speaks with Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Canadian-American Sikh independence activist who was the target of an alleged assassination plot by the Indian government.
He calls out India’s BJP government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for its spiral into alarmingly anti-democratic rule.
On World Water Day, the Ontario Headwaters Institute is urging Caledon councillors to speak out against an updated official plan that is weakening protection for the natural world and disregarding the value offered by the rivers and creeks that flow through the town and support numerous ecosystems in southern Ontario.
In a joint consent order filed to federal court Wednesday, the federal government and Ontario government have asked the courts to cancel the federal environmental assessment for the proposed Highway 413 project.
The news has sent shockwaves through environmental organizations who say there was no need for such a rash, politically driven decision. The decision by the Liberal government comes a week after Premier Doug Ford sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting the removal.
Data indicate the rate of auto theft crimes has not come down in recent months.
With police leaders across the country calling for a multi-jurisdictional approach, Peel officials say the second annual summit will build on the progress made last year, with a range of actions that still need to be taken.
Since forcing Bill 23 on the province, Doug Ford’s government has come under fire from housing and environmental activists for promoting sprawl. Ignoring the growth of sustainable communities, according to a University of Waterloo study, could have profoundly negative consequences for young people.
Despite a hearing date scheduled just a month before its expiry, Canadian Building Materials — an aggregate giant — is moving forward with its challenge of the Town of Caledon’s interim control bylaw extension that prevents new quarry applications from moving forward. The Ontario Land Tribunal will deal with a battle between the corporation and the Town, with the fate of an 800-acre blasting quarry proposed for west Caledon in the village of Cataract hanging in the balance.
A protest at Brampton Civic Hospital has been announced by Brampton Caledon Health Coalition, a local branch of the Ontario Health Coalition, which recently released a scathing report about the Doug Ford PC government and cuts to the public health sector while providing significant funding to the private, for-profit sector. Residents are encouraged to turn out to demand better healthcare facilities and staffing in the city, as well as an end to privatization and for OHIP to be accessible to all.
The Town of Caledon will implement a new Official Plan that will guide growth in the municipality to 2051. Residents have expressed concerns with portions of the plan that relate to the protection of natural systems and the environment. At a public information meeting last week, delegates raised red flags over the attention to urban policies rather than rural ones.
A workforce shortage is limiting access to affordable child care.
A report from the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare — the province’s central advocacy group for a universal early childhood education and care system — shows that Ontario has fallen behind most other provinces on wages in the sector.
The playing field continues to grow as more individuals throw their names in to replace Bonnie Crombie as the City’s third mayor in over four decades.
A week since registration opened, the ballot has grown to 11 names for Mississauga voters to choose from come June 10th.
A report from Cancer Care Ontario reveals participation in cancer screening is lower for areas described as materially deprived in Brampton and Mississauga.
These typically lower income areas have fewer people receiving critical tests that can detect cancer early and lead to more successful treatment. The findings place further emphasis on the need for enhanced medical services across the underfunded Peel Region.
As Canadians face increasing cost of living pressures, some are having to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.
While energy poverty has hit different demographics for decades with little in the way of response from government leaders, organizations are now demanding the issue be addressed in conjunction with the clean electricity transition, to make energy accessible and affordable for everyone.
Peel's paramedic service are once again trying to resolve issues that have plagued its dispatch centre for much of the last two decades.
Problems at the Mississauga Central Ambulance Communications Centre, which the Ministry of Health is directly responsible for operating, are creating service delays and impacting the ability of paramedics to improve their response times.
Dr. Ellen Field, a professor of education at Lakehead University has been granted funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada to implement climate change education into teacher training programs.
As the consequences of climate change are magnified, Field sees an opportunity for schools to serve as a place to foster skills and habits for both teachers and youth.
Thousands of Brampton residents took part in a tele-town hall to discuss the City of Brampton’s controversial residential rental licensing program. It paused the initiative less than a month after launching it at the beginning of 2024 after backlash from landlords. The consultations are meant to inform changes to the program which is designed to help tenants have safe living conditions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across communities, devastating countries worldwide, those residing in long-term care homes were among the hardest hit, revealing very quickly the harrowing reality of how unprepared Ontario was. A recent investigation by Ombudsman Paul Dubé revealed the Ministry of Long-Term Care “took limited steps to enforce compliance with legislative requirements,” as its inspection system collapsed during the first wave of the pandemic.
A new report from Environmental Defence and Equiterre models how Canada can double public transit use and decrease single occupancy vehicle use by 35 percent.
Transit service levels would have to roughly double, and the federal government has to step up to achieve this goal, which aligns directly with Ottawa’s current emissions reduction commitments.
As Mississauga gears up for the much-anticipated by-election on June 10 to replace former mayor Bonnie Crombie, several candidates have entered the race as of March 6 when registration officially opened.
Among the contenders so far are four council members and two long-time Mississauga residents.
Mississauga City officials are calling on the PC government to revisit the criteria of its new infrastructure funding program which measures municipalities on their housing starts (which municipalities cannot control) rather than approvals. The City was deemed ineligible for provincial funding that would help Mississauga build “more homes faster” to meet its housing target of 120,000 new homes by 2031.
The federal government has taken a step forward in establishing Clean Electricity Regulations to oversee the national transition to low or no carbon electricity systems.
But while the goal of achieving a net zero electricity grid by 2035 is critical to mitigate atmospheric harm, the draft regulations released by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change last fall, and updated last month, will not reach the lofty goal, experts say.
As opioid-related deaths continue to climb and accidental overdoses become more frequent, more municipalities are looking at Supervised Consumption Sites, like the one anticipated to open at 10 Peel Centre Drive, a stop-gap to the harm occurring on city streets.
Despite the increasing number of deaths, the PC government has halted any new site approval after a deadly shooting near a Toronto facility in July. Evidence has shown these sites actually reduce harms associated with drug injecting and minimize risks to the communities around them.
Younger generations are seemingly becoming more disengaged, with less activists showing up for climate strikes and participation in other facets of the movement. Facing pressures around affordability and housing and a range of other forces pushing in on them including those that impact their mental health, many young Canadians are struggling with how much is on their plate, which often turns climate activism into a privilege.
The PC government has announced it will move forward with the restoration of the previously cancelled downtown Mississauga LRT loop and an extension of the transit line into the Brampton city centre, after the city’s council members rejected the provincially funded alignment in 2015.
But the big question remains: will Doug Ford approve the Brampton LRT alignment demanded by Patrick Brown, who has insisted on a tunnel option that would cost almost $3 billion, about three times more than a surface route?
Peel Manor in Brampton will receive provincial funding for an additional Behavioural Specialized Unit. The investment will introduce 26 new beds, while similar funding needs and increased staffing issues continue to create gaps in senior care across the province.
MPPs, parents, students and teachers within Ontario schools for the deaf and blind still have no answer as to why the PC government refuses to address numerous allegations of abuse, discrimination and ongoing mismanagement—all of which is documented in lawsuits, Ministry of Labour investigations and accounts from parents and teachers.
The current government sees it as nothing more than “opposition rhetoric” and despite overwhelming evidence of failed leadership, the PCs “remain steadfast” in supporting these schools.
