Many governing bodies of what we now know as Canada – originally named Turtle Island – have claimed to begin or continue work reconciling relationships with Indigenous Peoples, and respect for Treaty agreements signed decades ago. The federal government in particular is responsible for leading the way. Yet, even through affiliation, it has been shown time and again that these displays of apologeticness may be rooted in performance rather than action. The Niagara Canada Summer Games is the latest example.
As the affordable housing crisis pushes more people into precarious living conditions, Calvert Park occupants are protesting at Brampton City Hall, asking that Paladin Security ceases raids on the city’s houseless encampments, alleging torn tents and confiscated belongings including food and clothes.
Nowhere is the incumbent advantage stronger than in municipal politics. But with the resignation of former councillor Karen Ras at the beginning of 2022, the door is open for a new face to join the council table representing Ward 2.
Widely viewed as Mississauga’s first settled area, Ward 2 faces a number of questions around urban growth, lakefront development, increased density and transportation, which a rookie councillor will have to navigate over the next four years.
Ontario hospitals, battered by nearly three years of COVID, are in crisis. The PC government says it is trying to help, passing legislation that will force hospitals to charge patients $400 a day if they refuse a transfer to a long-term care facility—even if they did not choose the facility which could be 150 kilometres away from their home.
Passed with limited debate or public consultation, legal experts say Bill 7 will be a disaster for Ontario.
Pat Saito will bid Mississauga City Council farewell after more than 30 years of public service. The Ward 9 representative never intended to run in 1991 but her tenacity, homework and strong opinions allowed Saito to champion public policies on traffic safety, policing and community building.
Now, as she reflects back on her many years in politics, the work most dear to her heart will be felt by residents for decades to come.
Freedom of information requests are a key pillar of transparency and accountability in local government, granting residents access to a range of public documents to help them better understand how key decisions have been made and hold public officials to account.
In Brampton, the system is failing. Staff in 2020 received just 158 requests for information from the public and failed to return almost 40 percent of them on time.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that highlight the troubling behaviour of Patrick Brown since becoming mayor of Brampton.
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Outgoing Brampton Councillor Jeff Bowman has asked the provincial government to step in and continue investigations into wrongdoing at Brampton City Hall after Patrick Brown killed the investigations following the release of evidence that found misconduct.
Bowman also warned of the dangers of extending "strong mayor" powers to Brampton, if Brown is reelected.
Following similar lawsuits undertaken in Europe and South America, seven youth from across Ontario have banded together to sue the provincial government under Premier Doug Ford for stripping down legislation meant to reduce provincial greenhouse gas emissions.
The landmark case could force stricter emissions targets into climate legislation.
Four years ago, a citizen-led effort to remove many locally elected officials brought hope that the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority would return to its mandate of protecting the most sensitive natural spaces throughout the region. Four years later, another municipal election might be the only way to force the NPCA to do its job.
A letter from Froese Forensic Partners shows emails were being exchanged between City Hall insiders and friends of Patrick Brown and Rowena Santos who were eventually paid more than $600,000 between them after winning lucrative contracts in what was supposed to be a fair and transparent bidding process.
Brown recently cancelled Froese’s council-ordered investigation into the procurements, while another set of investigations into other procurements involving Brown was also stopped by the mayor, who claimed the City’s integrity commissioner could handle the work, despite being told by senior staff it is outside the IC’s jurisdiction. This has now been confirmed, leaving the investigations cancelled by Brown with no path forward.
Inside the Art Gallery of Mississauga, staff were extremely cautious to speak up. For years they were bullied, harassed and overworked. In 2020 it all came to a halt when a few brave ex-employees shared their stories in a movement called, “Hold the AGM Accountable”.
A diversity and inclusion audit and separate investigation into the conduct of now former president Leslie Silvestri (who is running for a council seat) alarmed elected officials and staff inside City Hall. They froze the gallery’s funding. Money to operate has since been restored, but little has been revealed about what the investigations found.
The past few years have shown the power of civic action; and what happens without it. At this crucial juncture in Niagara Region’s history, the most powerful institutions and elected officials need to be held accountable by the people they are supposed to represent. Welcome to The Pointer Niagara, led by three dedicated board members who have seen firsthand the need for an engaged citizenry.
Questions are being raised about the value of municipal funding schemes paid by taxpayers across Niagara Region, meant to create economic growth. Regional Council has been told by KPMG that after 20 years of these programs, there is little evidence to show they work. Now, as St. Catharines adds another condo development to the list of projects receiving millions in taxpayer support, some councillors are calling for reform.
Environmental issues still don’t capture the attention of voters the way economic and public safety concerns do. They are not directly linked to the immediate interests of residents, even though climate change is increasingly impacting the well-being of more and more Canadians. Green candidates have brought plenty of passion to the election trail; now they have to take off the gloves as our times need politicians, like Mike Schreiner, who will fight for the planet.
Brampton’s business community is losing faith in City Hall after years of tax freezes under Patrick Brown and inexperienced CAO David Barrick. A damning presentation made by the Board of Trade laid bare the recklessness of Brown’s tax freezes.
Business leaders highlighted the lack of basic planning, the late release of information and an air of incompetence emanating from Brampton, its council and staff.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that highlight the troubling behaviour of Patrick Brown since becoming mayor of Brampton.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created even more instability around energy supply. Nuclear power has been hotly debated for decades.
Some see it as the only feasible way to shift from carbon; a goal linked directly to climate change mitigation, and the need to break the global dependence on bad actors like Russia. But the risks associated with nuclear power still loom like the radioactive clouds of past disasters.
Brampton residents are demanding further legislative action to prevent tenants from being renovicted as landlords utilize “strategic renovations” to raise the rent on units.
Property owner Pulis Investments denies allegations levelled against the company and says its renovations are badly needed, with families offered compensation during the work and the opportunity to return upon completion.
Meetings scheduled for both September 7 & 14 have been cancelled by Brown following the snap special meeting he called late August where the mayor terminated a half-dozen forensic investigations into the use of public funds for City contracts, including some handed to his friends. The cancelled meetings this week and next were supposed to provide the public with details of the investigations, which some councillors are vowing to complete, despite the mayor’s interference.
The City of Toronto has adopted protocols to prevent conflicts between humans and foxes. These increasingly common interactions are the result of increased habitat loss, driving more and more animals out of the natural spaces where they thrive. Thanks to rescue operations many species threatened by human activity have been rehabilitated which helps maintain their population, but because of constant threats like habitat loss due to urban development, a multitude of species – at risk or not – are still in rapid decline.
Conservation experts and environmental advocates are manufacturing mini miracles across Ontario using small doses of funding doled out by the provincial government.
These projects create a bulwark against a biodiversity crisis that is threatening the vast majority of the world’s species with extinction. If elected officials decided to dedicate just a minuscule amount of increased annual funding to conservation efforts the outcomes could be remarkable.
Instead of allowing Brampton residents to shape their city, Patrick Brown put future planning in the hands of wealthy developers. To cut the public out of the process he claimed in Council that the PC government inside Queen's Park had set a deadline for the submission of special planning applications that are approved by the provincial government, not City Hall, to fast track projects. The special process, known as a Minister's Zoning Order (MZO), completely cuts the public out of decision making. The problem: Queen's Park set no such deadline; Brown made it up to prevent residents from having a say in how their city will take shape in the coming years.
Ahead of this fall's municipal election, The Pointer is publishing a series of previous articles that highlight Patrick Brown's startling conduct since becoming mayor.
After a stable year under the new director of education, Peel District School Board has made significant progress on the 27 Directives handed down by the Ministry of Education to eradicate widespread, systematic racism. Rashmi Swarup is known for her determined, caring approach. That’s why she was brought to Peel, to steer the board toward a new chapter. Repairing relationships with the community, specifically the diverse Black communities, and listening to student concerns has been a priority for her. After one year on the job, Swarup sat down with The Pointer and talked about the challenges PDSB faces.
An email from Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah circulated recently among community members asking residents to sign-up to hear about the force’s “journey.” The vague email called the event a “community update” but it caused confusion and anger when members learned they were not invited to get answers about why Peel Police used force against Black residents at more than three times the rate compared to the population overall.
During a last-minute special council meeting called late Friday afternoon by Brampton’s mayor, he took advantage of a missing councillor and with just enough votes pulled the plug on an ongoing series of investigations after allegations of widespread misconduct under his watch. An update by the investigation firm revealed disturbing practices around the use of taxpayer money under Brown. Despite the preliminary findings and advice from Ontario’s Ombudsman to follow through with the investigations, Brown terminated them, sparking outrage among council members, staff and the public.
The critically sensitive ecosystem we are all a part of has countless features that are all interdependent; if even one is affected, the entire system has the potential to collapse. Scientists have warned of what happens when one species goes extinct – human factors being the most prominent recent cause – and what this means for life as we know it. Thanks to rescue operations many species have been rehabilitated which helps maintain their population, but because of constant threats like habitat loss due to urban development, a multitude of species – at risk or not – are still in rapid decline.
The staff who work in Brampton’s communications department take home hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money every year. Since corruption allegations started swirling inside City Hall shortly after Patrick Brown's election, the department under Jason Tamming, who was recruited by Brown, worked to protect those accused of wrongdoing. Tamming is no longer with the City after a group of councillors vowed to clean up the culture Brown brought with him.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that revealed Patrick Brown’s startling behaviour since becoming mayor of Brampton.
An analysis by The Pointer of chloride concentrations in Peel waterways has uncovered a troubling reality. Many of the creeks, streams and rivers that flow through the region are starting to have more in common with a salt water ocean than a freshwater ecosystem.
This poses a serious threat to aquatic life in Peel, and with a new study showing these harms can be triggered at levels lower than what governments have deemed safe, it demands increased urgency from municipalities and provincial officials to find new solutions for winter safety.
The pressure on nurses and other frontline hospital staff in Ontario continues. The system is failing and more nurses are jumping ship to increase their pay with organizations that have enough staff and are better managed. Many are comparing the United States and Ontario, describing realities that are worlds apart. If the provincial government does not address the growing crisis our healthcare system will spiral further out of control.
Just under half of Peel Region residents work within the trucking industry or its spin-off sectors. As a driver of the local and provincial economy, its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and the industry’s own vulnerability to a warming planet demand innovative ideas to keep goods moving sustainably.
A report authored by Principles Integrity shows Brown used City of Brampton staff for his CPC leadership bid, without any approval for their leave; seven members of Brown’s City-funded office staff worked on his campaign during normal working hours; Brown’s failure to keep any documentation for his use of staff prevented the commissioner from making a finding against him; and the City’s corporate electronic time recording system was updated after the fact to show time-off was taken.
After the recent death of a four-year-old Mississauga girl, Canadian Pacific Railway crews patched up large sections of the fence on either side of the Milton GO corridor. As the owners and operators of the tracks, CP has the responsibility to maintain fencing. Less than a kilometre from the tragic incident The Pointer found another large hole cut in the fencing. Other areas along the line have gaps or poorly maintained fences. The traumatic incident has raised questions around rail safety and the joint responsibility of stakeholders.
A small forest in Brampton was highlighted by Credit Valley Conservation Authority for its ecological importance. But Great Gulf Homes, who now owns the property, and the City of Brampton signed off on the removal of the trees anyway. A residents’ association wants to know why this environmentally significant forest is being destroyed. Through a freedom of information request, the group discovered the conservation authority called for the forest’s preservation, but few stood up for it ahead of the final decision to raze it when Brampton Council sealed its fate in October 2020. A future subdivision is now slated to replace the Huttonville Forest.
Opinions are mixed on how to handle the overdose crisis in Brampton’s downtown.
As the Region of Peel moves forward with its plans for a supervised consumption site, the organization representing downtown businesses is firm in its stance that the site selection process is flawed. But some business owners disagree, and see the potential site as a beacon of hope.
The City of Brampton was forced to reveal the cost of hiring former CAO David Barrick and former director of strategic communications, Jason Tamming.
After their troubling history in Niagara, Brampton residents were eager to find out how much was spent to hire two individuals with an abysmal track record in the public sector. Tamming behaved corruptly in a Niagara CAO hiring process and Barrick was implicated in the scandal. That didn't stop Patrick Brown from recruiting them to do his bidding in Brampton. The Pointer tried for eight months to get answers, before the Province’s information commissioner had to be drawn in to obtain details of how the two men were recruited despite their disqualifying behaviour in Niagara.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that revealed Patrick Brown’s startling behaviour since becoming mayor of Brampton.
Younger generations are spending more time indoors and many are plagued with worry about a future where the natural world has turned aggressive, morphed by the impacts of climate change.
The creation of new outdoor learning standards could be the antidote for this anxiety, and spark a passion for nature in countless young minds. It’s a mindset that will be incredibly valuable in future decision-makers as the world stares down our changing climate.
School will look different for thousands of students within the Peel District School Board this year with the board ending the controversial hybrid learning model.
Students and parents will need to make a choice between virtual or in-person learning with few options to transition between the two learning models.
Mississauga is looking for millions of dollars in assistance to help with key projects to rejuvenate greenspace across the city and boost its efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
As Canada’s 7th largest city, any emissions reductions seen here have the potential to provide big benefits to the climate targets set by upper levels of government.
Data released by Statistics Canada has provided one of the most comprehensive looks to date of the incessant increase of online child exploitation in the country.
It sheds new light on who is being impacted the most, how police are handling the problem—and how so much more needs to be done to stop it.
The Region of Peel has purchased a rail corridor connecting Brampton and Orangeville with plans to convert it into a system of hiking trails.
While additional opportunities for residents to enjoy the outdoors are crucial for a growing population, the plan has created questions for transit advocates who claim the railway would be better utilized as a future transportation corridor.
Scandal follows the Brampton mayor wherever he goes. His disdain for the truth and utter contempt for democratic norms are currently supported by four councillors who have decided to bow and kiss the ring, plunging City Hall into another era of turmoil. The same authoritarian impulses displayed by America's former president, fixated with holding onto power, can be seen in Brown, who is now desperately trying to take control of Brampton Council after he was disqualified from the CPC leadership race for allegedly committing federal crimes around election laws. Council members warn he is now trying to block a series of City Hall investigations into allegations of widespread corruption under his alarming leadership.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that revealed Patrick Brown’s startling behaviour since becoming mayor of Brampton.
After weeks of opposing council factions refusing to attend meetings, grinding City business to a halt, members finally agreed to get back to the table.
Residents were finally provided with more details about an investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the BramptonU project with a final report said to be coming forward in September.
A committee formed after a strong push from members of Peel’s Black communities to get their voices heard by the Peel Police Services Board appears to have once again excluded them from the process.
Formed with no consultation with the public, and consisting of only members of the current board, advocates are once again calling on the board to do better for the diverse community that suffers the most at the hands of police.
The City of Mississauga’s inclusionary zoning policy will head to council for final approval tomorrow.
If given the green light, this policy will force developers to create more affordable housing near major transit hubs. Housing advocates have been vocal throughout the process and say the final policy is still not as strong as it could be.
Population numbers for the monarch butterfly have been dwindling for decades. A recent endangered designation by a global conservation union is the latest signal of the dire position this incredible butterfly finds itself in.
Many hope the decision will signal increased protection, but in Ontario, where the provincial government has been hostile to species at risk, there may be little help for this critical pollinator.
In car-dependent Peel, eliminating reliance on the personal automobile is a tough sell for those who get behind the wheel on a daily basis. But transitioning to a zero emission vehicle, one that still affords the freedoms of a gas-powered car without the climate-harming emissions, could be an option—if crucial barriers are removed.
A new Peel strategy looks to do just that, but with the constant flip-flopping from the PC government on its stance towards electric vehicles, Peel is left with little help to reach its goals.
City of Brampton senior staffer Nikki Kaur was fired the same day she released bombshell allegations of widespread corruption under Patrick Brown’s leadership. She was directed to give a contract worth as much as $400,000 to a close Conservative political associate of Brown. The man didn't even have a registered consulting company when he was tapped by City Hall to set up a municipal corporation to handle all of Brampton's real estate transactions, despite having no experience doing such work. Brown would not answer questions after it was reported that he visited Kaur at her home shortly after she made her allegations public.
Between now and the fall municipal election, The Pointer is republishing articles that revealed Patrick Brown’s startling behaviour since becoming mayor of Brampton.
A lawsuit brought forward by a survivor of exploitation on Pornhub has taken a significant step forward after a judge ruled that Visa can be held liable for providing financial services to MindGeek, Pornhub’s Canadian parent company, while it knew the website was infested with child sexual abuse material.
The decision “will have far-reaching implications on credit card companies and online criminal conduct,” the survivors' lawyer says.
Future development along Dundas Street’s major urban growth corridor might happen without any real plan to mitigate routine flooding from Etobicoke Creek.
The Dundas Connects Master Plan envisions a dense, pedestrian friendly streetscape with mixed-use residential development. A portion of the corridor has a Special Policy Area designation that could prevent the master plan from coming together if staff can’t figure out how to mitigate the risk of flooding.
Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon says he’s taking legal action against Patrick Brown who claims taxpayer money was used as ‘hush’ payment after a woman accused Dhillon of sexual misconduct (which he denies).
The City’s head lawyer told Brown and all other members of Council that the mayor’s claim was not true, but he later made the allegation publicly, disregarding the solicitor. Brown also claimed the CAO could confirm his story, but the man who holds that position refuses to back up what the mayor said.
Charities like the Mississauga Food Bank are there for people in the worst times, making sure families are fed, seniors are looked after and those who lose housing don’t go hungry. It has been serving the community for decades relying almost entirely on donations.
Now, with demand soaring the Food Bank has outgrown its warehouse on Universal Drive and is desperately trying to find a new home. Twice as many clients, according to projections, will use its services in five years.
