Brown and his four allies on council were a no-show for the Wednesday, June 15 meeting, preventing the session from happening and postponing all municipal matters that were supposed to be dealt with to a later date. The official replacement for Wards 7 and 8, after Charmaine Williams won a provincial seat, was supposed to take place, but Brown and the four others who did not show up, previously voiced their opposition to the person selected as a replacement by the majority of councillors.
Charline Grant of Kedz Consulting knows people can’t unlearn system-wide racism overnight; it takes years to undo policies and procedures that for decades have benefited those in power while excluding others. Community advocate Idris Orughu and PDSB Trustee Kathy McDonald have fought for years to transform the school board’s ingrained culture of discrimination.
Now, the board says one of the foundational directives issued by the Education Ministry has been completed. Time will soon tell if this leads to actual change.
A number of reports will appear before Mississauga council this week with details on how to make getting around the city more environmentally friendly, including Peel’s strategy for zero emission vehicles, details on how to move forward with the Dundas Connects Master Plan and future charging options for MiWay’s electric fleet.
Brampton will be occupied with officially filling the vacancy left behind by newly elected MPP Charmaine Williams and a special meeting of council Friday to deal with the audit of the controversial spending on BramptonU.
Social services agencies and other advocates working to help residents struggling with addictions watched in despair as the number of opioid deaths continued to rise throughout the pandemic.
To combat the growing number of overdoses, the Region of Peel is moving forward on a multifaceted strategy to address society’s chilling opioid reality.
To keep City buildings in safe, working condition, Mississauga has to allocate funding to keep up with the to-do list of repairs required as infrastructure ages. This crucial list, in too many cases, is being ignored.
Buildings like fire stations, community centres and City Hall itself, are getting pushed to the side with the backlog of repairs growing, as critical work is sacrificed for other needs.
There’s clearly demand for cricket infrastructure in the city but competing interests and, once again, changing claims by Mayor Patrick Brown, are clouding the future of the sport in Brampton.
A group of private investors has stepped in, but even their proposal raises more questions about the way the sport’s growth in the city is being planned.
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Mississauga Council has directed Andra Maxwell, the City’s lawyer, to challenge Councillor Ron Starr’s injunction request, which if approved would block the integrity commissioner report into allegations of harassment against him from being released to the public.
On May 31, Council received a letter from Starr’s lawyers explaining why he is now taking legal action to prevent the report’s release. Former councillor Karen Ras alleges Starr was behind the repeated keying of her vehicle in a City Hall parking lot.
Delegations at the Region of Peel this week will focus on high water bills, shelter funding, how to keep COVID-19 out of communities and the growing deficit. Mississauga has an important in-camera discussion after Councillor Ron Starr sought an injunction against an integrity commissioner report which was slated to be released. Brampton is set to hear from a group of private developers on how they can build the cricket stadium Patrick Brown promised would be finished by now.
Peel District School Board has taken small steps to address its systemic discrimination problem.
Charmaine Williams has traded her city council seat for one inside Queen’s Park, where she will represent Brampton Centre as an MPP on the Progressive Conservative side of the aisle.
Former Ward 1 and 5 councillor Elaine Moore will be filling in until new council members are sworn in after the October 24 municipal election.
After allegations hung around him for months, Mississauga Councillor Ron Starr has released a statement to the media denying them. Former councillor Karen Ras alleges Starr keyed her Kia Sportage numerous times in a City Hall parking lot during the council term, prior to her decision in January to step down from her elected role.
Last week Starr filed a court request for an injunction to prevent an integrity commissioner’s investigation report from coming forward to council.
The small rural Town of Erin sits just north of Peel Region, in essence they are neighbours. But the township is not being very neighbourly; it is constructing a wastewater treatment facility that will dump effluent into Peel’s watershed which empties into Lake Ontario. It’s another huge developer-backed project to make way for sprawl that will impact the Credit River ecosystem and take another chunk out of Ontario’s so-called ‘untouchable’ Greenbelt.
On Wednesday, Mississauga council members were told colleague Ron Starr filed an injunction against the City of Mississauga and integrity commissioner Robert Swayze. If approved it would prevent Swayze from delivering the report.
He has been investigating whether Starr was in breach of the City’s Code of Conduct following allegations by former councillor Karen Ras that Starr keyed her vehicle repeatedly in the City Hall parking lot.
Highway 413 has lost all opposition in Queen’s Park from Brampton as the Progressive Conservatives sweep the entire region with only about a third of local voters casting a ballot.
Without pressure from the official opposition in Brampton, the city’s ongoing hallway healthcare crisis needs a new advocate.
Mississauga will remain blue provincially for another four years after voters returned all six local PC incumbents to Queen’s Park for another term.
The reelected MPPs have championed Mississauga priorities in the past, but have been reluctant to push the PC party to prioritize their city. Its reelected officials will need to step up and speak out for their constituents on a number of complex topics including police reform, jobs for new Canadians, mental health and addictions, housing affordability and funding for public transit in booming areas of the city.
After it was revealed that Councillor Rowena Santos and Mayor Patrick Brown were linked to the two firms at the heart of a forensic audit into the mishandling of the failed BramptonU project which cost the city $629,000, they tried their best to stop members of council determined to move the investigation forward.
A group of six councillors used the authority of their majority this week to ensure a forensic firm will be able to do its work free from interference by Santos, Brown or their council allies.
Brampton West is a swing riding, held strong by the Liberals in 2014, before the Progressive Conservatives narrowly beat the NDP in 2018.
In 2022, the election will show whether residents reject the man who refused to support their healthcare needs for the last four years; or if the PC highway mandate trumps the well being of voters.
Mississauga Centre is the city’s smallest riding and the one experiencing more vertical growth than any other. Advocates want the next government to bring back the Hurontario light rail transit downtown loop cancelled by the Doug Ford PCs.
A massive new hospital being built right next to the riding is welcome news but lingering questions around long-term care and how the area was treated during the pandemic are still a concern for residents.
As a first-time MPP for Mississauga Centre, Natalia Kusendova didn’t act like a rookie.
Early on she stood up inside the legislature speaking both official languages and bringing up her riding regularly. Healthcare, mental health and addictions and seniors' issues featured prominently in many of her speeches. She was also a passionate advocate for the province’s francophone population. She did not stand up for those residents and businesses who want the downtown LRT loop added back into the project, after her PC government removed it.
The deeply disturbing behaviour of the provincial government over the last four years swept across Ontario’s electorate with blinding speed. In four years Doug Ford and his PC colleagues managed to undo longstanding environmental protections that once made Ontario a beacon for other governments racing to save their most valued natural spaces.
June 2 is the last chance to stop incendiary actions pushing the province to the edge of environmental ruin.
Caledon advocate and former federal candidate for the Green Party Jenni Le Forestier has doggedly held her local elected officials accountable for the damaging decisions some have made while doing the bidding of powerful developers who dictate so much of the local planning across the 905. She believes taxpayers need to be given far more information about the powerful industry lobby group that dictates more and more of the decision making around how their communities are being shaped.
The MPP for Mississauga—Erin Mills had a quiet four-year term, seldomly standing to speak in Queen’s Park. When he did, his riding was rarely mentioned and he almost never spoke about the most pressing issue in the area— affordable housing.
He instead focused on the need to recognize more international credentials and degrees to help open the post-pandemic economy by taking advantage of skilled immigrants.
Brampton West’s Amarjot Sandhu was nothing short of a disgrace in the eyes of many constituents: charged and convicted for operating illegal basement apartments; failing to show up for an official Remembrance Day ceremony and taking votes that hurt residents in his riding who expressed shock at the treatment by their elected representative. Sandhu had a record of inaction on a wide range of Brampton’s central issues including healthcare, police carding and auto-insurance discrimination.
For Brampton South residents there is a drastic divide between their priorities and the recent representation inside Queen’s Park.
As soon as he won their support in 2018 Prabmeet Sarkaria made it clear, he was not loyal to the constituents who put him in office, he would instead follow whatever Doug Ford and the PC Party told him to do. He refused to support desperately needed healthcare expansion in his own city, he pushed Highway 413, and ignored postal code discrimination in the auto-insurance sector.
Elected in 2018 to represent Brampton South for the Progressive Conservatives, Prabmeet Sarkaria was a firm ally of Doug Ford, toeing the party line.
He refused to support desperately needed healthcare expansion in his own city, he pushed Highway 413, did little to advocate for more local resources during the pandemic and would not support 10 paid sick days for the essential workers in his own riding.
The area located in the northwest part of the city has long been a big draw for new Canadians, offering a tight-knit community feel, expansive parks and trails.
But as the abundant housing supply that kept coming online reached a point of saturation demand drove up prices and the rental market outpaced supply. Housing affordability in the area is a big issue ahead of Thursday’s election.
The city’s ongoing healthcare crisis has been well documented. For four years the Ford government, including its two Brampton PC MPPs, Prabmeet Sarkaria and Amarjot Sandhu, failed to respond to the medical needs of the city’s 700,000 residents. Brampton suffered some of the worst infection rates in the country through the first three waves of the pandemic, while per capita resources for testing were among the lowest in Ontario. Meanwhile, demands to build a second full-service hospital with at least 850 acute-care beds were ignored, as Ford instead funded a massive new hospital in Mississauga. The former head of critical care at Brampton Civic Hospital says the city's voters should reject the Ford PCs on Thursday.
The incumbent regularly spoke up at Queen’s Park on community issues in Malton.
While Anand often claimed to advocate for his constituents he generally voted along PC lines even for legislation that impacted the riding negatively, and, beyond empty words, he seldom took the lead on many of the most pressing issues facing constituents in Peel.
With the promise, or threat of Highway 413 on the horizon, Brampton East residents will get to choose between candidates who want to see the sprawling 400-series corridor built just above their community and those committed to stopping the project before it starts.
During Gurratan Singh’s term as Brampton East MPP he was one of Ontario’s most outspoken legislators, regularly fighting for measures to end postal code discrimination within the auto insurance sector, advocating for better healthcare funding in his city along with a host of other priorities he brought to the forefront.
As the most diverse area of Mississauga, the complex dynamics of policing a multicultural community unfold every day. On June 2, voters will be looking to put their X beside a candidate who understands how Queen’s Park can work to heal the trust that has been broken between Malton and Peel Regional Police.
The riding is home to more residents who take public transportation in Mississauga than any other area, making a key issue the Dundas bus rapid transit line which runs directly through the riding.
Public transportation in the riding has seen heavy investment with a portion of the future Hurontario light rail transit system, and voters want to see funding continue to make transit more accessible. Better long-term care in an area with a large population of seniors is also a main focus of residents.
Kaleed Rasheed stuck close to what his constituents wanted and advocated on their behalf during his rookie term as an MPP. Mississauga East—Cooksville was mentioned often during the first half of his term when he spoke in the legislature, highlighting the need for more affordable housing in his booming region and advocating for supports to assist seniors in his riding.
But after receiving a ministerial portfolio midway through the term his local advocacy fell off.
A hotly contested provincial riding between the NDP and Progressive Conservatives, with incumbent Sara Singh facing a fierce challenge from Brampton City Councillor Charmaine Williams, makes Brampton Centre one of the most interesting races to watch in all of Ontario.
During her term representing Brampton Centre at Queen’s Park, Sara Singh was an advocate for smaller class sizes, climate change mitigation strategies and action to increase healthcare capacity in the City of Brampton.
It’s becoming increasingly clear how badly Peel’s social services have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how long it could take to recover.
Reports related to a lack of funding for mental health and addictions in Peel detail how only one in three residents will get the help they need in a time of crisis, as work on the opioid strategy was stalled during the pandemic. Overdose deaths have continued to increase but when will regional councillors take responsibility for funding critically needed social services they have neglected for years?
A motion by Brampton Council has resulted in a referral to the Integrity Commissioner to investigate Councillor Rowena Santos, after questioning of a staff member around the processes surrounding the controversial Brampton University project led to claims that she harassed a senior employee, Gurdeep (Nikki) Kaur.
Over her last four years in office the elected representative for Mississauga—Streetsville focused on how to keep small businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even before, Tangri regularly mentioned and supported legislation to benefit businesses and the local economy, hoping to grow jobs. When appointed associate minister of small business and red tape reduction, she dove deeper into the economic development file. But her record on the environment, like her Party’s, was out of step with residents who make the connection between climate change and the economy.
Doug Ford is calling his campaign bus the “Yes Express”, a play on his campaign promise to “say yes” to new infrastructure for a prosperous future. The environment, on the other hand, will suffer dearly under his plans.
A coalition of environmental groups is calling on Ford and all party leaders to ban highways through the Greenbelt—by altering the legislation that governs the protected greenspace.
The Ontario NDP, Greens and, until recently, the Liberals have been very clear about where they stand on the PCs environmentally destructive Highway 413 project—if elected, the 400-series highway proposal will be relegated to the scrap heap.
But over the last two weeks, a Liberal candidate in Brampton East has drawn criticism for claiming the Liberals only plan to delay the project and will “definitely build the highway”, a departure from the position of her Party.
A forensic audit was ordered Wednesday by Brampton council to look into the mishandling of $629,000 for the failed Brampton University plan, following a staff report showing much of the work was never received and some of it arrived 17 months late, while at least one of the two firms was not qualified for the lucrative job.
Questions have also been raised about the quality of the work that was done.
Streetsville has long been a big attraction for visitors from across Ontario, drawn to the village’s historic charm and heritage features. The small businesses housed in some of the oldest buildings in what’s now called Mississauga, are the lifeblood of the area.
The next MPP elected to represent Mississauga—Streetsville’s residents and local entrepreneurs will have a clear mandate: protect this jewel that has thrived for more than a century. Better transportation in and out of the quaint riding is also a growing concern candidates will have to address when knocking on doors.
Mississauga—Lakeshore is in the midst of a massive waterfront transformation, one of the largest redevelopments in the entire country. Ahead of the June 2 election the race is close, as residents decide between candidates who will help steward an era of unprecedented change. With all the new developments along Lake Ontario, who will help create communities that feature a range of housing options, offer a wide choice of transportation and include all the key provincial services such as healthcare and education?
Over four years in the provincial legislature, Rudy Cuzzetto often spoke multiple times during Queen’s Park sessions.
He advocated for his riding of Mississauga—Lakeshore and the issues that concern his constituents, such as a lack of supports for seniors, access to frontline healthcare and funding to help businesses and residents during the pandemic. Some of the files he is most engaged with, like protecting manufacturing jobs, are woven into the history of the area.
Only eight months after being reelected to a third term in office, Sven Spengemann is leaving federal politics. In a statement posted on Twitter, the MP announced he will be resigning effective May 28 and taking up a position with the United Nations.
Spengemann’s vacancy triggers a by-election in the riding to be held in six months leaving over 100,000 residents temporarily without direct representation in Ottawa.
World events over the last two years had a direct impact on solicitor general Sylvia Jones, who served as MPP for Dufferin-Caledon over the last term. She was forced to balance upheaval in public health and safety with the needs of her local constituents.
In the relatively young, politically ambiguous riding of Brampton North, Ontario’s big party leaders are all making significant moves for a seat they clearly see as ready for the taking.
With just over 50 percent of the registered voters turning up to cast a ballot in 2018, a significant get-out-the-vote effort to mobilize residents could be the difference on June 2.
Subverting the CPC leadership race by trading memberships for empty promises, is how Patrick Brown plans to inflate point totals for the September 10 election, using a loophole he admittedly exploits. He treats unwitting Canadians seeking political representation like pawns in his dangerous game.
Despite numerous complaints, the Ontario Ombudsman will not be investigating allegations of corruption and mismanagement made public last year; in a letter to council, senior counsel for the Ombudsman cites the fact that many of the senior staff identified in the allegations are no longer working for the City.
A collective of over 40 organizations is calling on Doug Ford and other provincial leaders to make equitable funding for education, healthcare and public safety in Peel a priority after the June election.
The riding of Dufferin-Caledon has been held by the PCs for decades.
But with more residents placing environmental concerns at the top of their priority list, and a large section of the Greenbelt that runs through the riding at risk from Doug Ford’s Highway 413 plan, could these issues be enough to swing voters on June 2?
The man responsible for the crash that killed a Caledon mother and her three daughters has been handed one of the steepest sentences for impaired driving in Ontario’s history, marking a potential turning point for the courts to impose stricter penalties on those getting behind the wheel while impaired.
Speaking outside the court after the sentencing, family members of those killed in the crash said no sentence would have been strong enough.
