We have been steadily falling behind in the race against COVID-19 as the number of vaccinations administered per capita in Canada is now behind dozens of other countries.
As new strains of the novel coronavirus continue to spread, and provinces begin to reopen, it’s clear inoculation is the key to returning to normal life.
With roughly 20 months remaining in the current term, City officials have endorsed a list containing more than a dozen priorities, including some projects council members have been talking about since they were sworn in.
With the clock ticking, and a mayor fixated with tax freezes popular during election season, the City is running out of time to secure funds for these ambitious projects and make good on their promises to taxpayers.
Peel’s two publicly funded school boards will reopen classrooms tomorrow, but some educators have mixed emotions about the decision. Training to accommodate the need for non-traditional learning has been poorly handled, some say, while concerns over viral transmission have still not been adequately addressed.
The Malton People’s Movement, a group based in Mississauga, has protested regularly in its campaign to bring change to Peel. In the wake of several police shootings in Brampton and Mississauga, members and supporters say they’re angry and scared. The advocacy is critical in forcing decision makers who claim to want change to actually meet at the table. But how can society be protected without a strong police presence?
Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s medical officer of health, says the Province’s reopening plan goes against the guidance he offered. Loh has stressed reopening retail and schools too close together will make it difficult to isolate the cause of spread if cases begin to rise.
The former Mississauga mayor is an ageless icon who becomes a centenarian on Sunday. Her legion of fans will fete her with a giant online celebration – restricted somewhat because of the ongoing pandemic. But this won’t diminish how she ‘transformed’ her adopted city.
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The majority of businesses in the country and throughout Peel have been impacted negatively by the pandemic in one way or another.
Meanwhile, some startups and early-stage companies have been able to prevail despite the odds. Resourcefulness and a creative pivot strategy have allowed these businesses to continue generating impressive revenue despite all the obstacles.
Late drama during the Region of Peel’s budget process concluded Thursday with the approval of a 1.02 percent property tax increase in the Region’s share of the bill and a 5.5 percent utility rate hike.
Councillors from Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga disagreed over a budget change worth $20 to the average household, before reluctantly settling on a compromise.
After a year of controversy encircled Pornhub and its Canadian parent company MindGeek, allegations of child pornography and other non-consensual material published and monetized on their websites forced company executives to explain themselves.
MPs were “disgusted” and “gobsmacked” by what they heard, with one politician commenting on the company CEO’s “staggering level of recklessness”.
The hiring of the City’s chief administrative officer and director of strategic communications, two high-level positions filled after Patrick Brown became mayor in 2018, remains shrouded in secrecy.
The Ontario ombudsman found the winning candidates, prior to their arrival at Brampton City Hall, had been complicit in the fraudulent Niagara “Inside Job” scandal, meanwhile key questions around their hiring in Brampton shortly after remain unanswered.
When Justin Trudeau picked Omar Alghabra to become his new Minister of Transport in January, the MP for Mississauga Centre was given a huge platform to deliver for the city that elected him.
But, since transitioning onto the front bench, Alghabra’s social media has put his role as a minister forward and seems to have left Mississauga behind.
In Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga, rental and purchase prices for housing are out of reach for 80 percent of residents. In Ontario, it falls to the Region to provide affordable housing.
It is a duty Peel’s elected councillors are struggling to meet, praying for help from the other levels of government and the private sector, while the crisis deepens.
A review of Brampton’s parking strategy, to reduce the number of parking spaces required for new developments, likely won’t be finished until late next year. In the meantime, the City is planning to remove parking minimums downtown, and along Queen and Hurontario Streets under certain conditions.
With Peel Region confirming its first case of the South African variant of the novel coronavirus, and cases of the highly transmissible U.K. variant, slowing community spread is crucial to protect those in high-risk long-term care settings.
Advocates say restricting the movement of staff to one type of setting, either homecare or long-term care facilities, as seen in British Columbia, can help reduce transmission.
The construction of a bypass corridor for freight trains to remove them from the Milton GO line would deliver big-city train service to multiple stations in Mississauga that currently sit empty for hours at a time. After years of advocating, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie has slowed the effort, fearing other local priorities could be in jeopardy with a deficit-shy Province and heavily burdened federal government.
Students in Sheridan’s early childhood education program were disappointed after learning they are expected to complete in-person placements this month, despite uncertainty around the risk of viral transmission.
The college has refused to provide an online alternative, saying those who are uncomfortable face delayed graduation and additional fees.
Since the first vaccine arrived in Canada, Premier Doug Ford stated many times, he will do everything in his power to get needles in the arms of people who need inoculation most.
As of January 31, roughly 59,000 long-term care residents were vaccinated, but seniors who don’t live in such facilities for cultural reasons are still waiting for a delivery date, leaving many to question if the Province grasps the demographic reality in Ontario.
The city’s large Sikh community has joined movements across the globe.
The Hindu nationalist Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again trying to marginalize one of the country’s most prominent religious minorities, many advocates say. Local residents have spent hours planning and executing events to show protestors in India they are not alone.
Some of the safety measures announced by the Minister of Education on Wednesday, including advanced screening protocols, were put in place in Peel schools by the Region’s Medical Officer of Health in early December.
Parents navigating the reopening in Peel District School Board will have to rely on direct communication with staff and teachers for updates, as the board’s website and other resources continue to experience outages following a cyber attack last week.
Peel Regional Councillor Rowena Santos works hard to balance the implications of both her public and personal image. A fake social media account was recently set up by someone to defraud her followers.
Does her particular type of social media use make Santos susceptible to impersonation? And if so, what does that mean for other elected officials?
Joining forces with lawyers and other activists, Environmental Defence has written to Ottawa and asked for a federal Environmental Assessment for the GTA West Highway.
The project, which threatens wildlife and watersheds, will run through west Brampton and carve a massive asphalt corridor across the south of Caledon.
Brampton councillors are questioning why David Barrick took over the City’s freedom of information function while concern mounted over his checkered past.
When he arrived in Brampton to fill City Hall’s top position in 2019, he faced mounting questions about his fraudulent conduct as a bureaucrat in Niagara region’s conservation authority. Since being hired, a number of concerning decisions have been made by the CAO, and councillors are growing increasingly frustrated by the disturbing conduct.
A $3.1 million provincial investment into anti-human trafficking efforts in Peel has arrived at a critical time.
As the pandemic has exposed Peel’s many social issues, it has increased the risk for many vulnerable residents to being exploited by traffickers.
The rapidly growing Region has a $120-million capital investment set aside for its Housing Master Plan to help fund the creation of 2,200 affordable units. Compared to other Canadian cities in the last year, Peel saw the fastest growth in its millennial population between July 2019 and July 2020, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Trends pointing to longer shelter stays and increased domestic violence occurrences – coupled with the effects of the pandemic – underscore the Region’s need to boost affordable housing supply, Council heard.
In the first part of our three-part series, The Pointer looks at how retirement-living is being completely transformed by baby boomers. The pandemic has forced many of us to reassess our lives and consider dramatic changes. The baby boom generation has already kick-started the process. They are now reinventing retirement. Welcome to a bold new boomer-driven project, The Shores of Port Credit.
After almost a year of pandemic rules, fatigue as the COVID-19 crisis deepens often turns to apathy. With many traditional communication methods beginning to wear thin, it could be time to pivot to show the shocking scenes unfolding in ICUs or embrace art to communicate shared grief.
Public Health Ontario is ramping up screening for new COVID-19 variants, with the results of a prevalence test expected in the coming weeks. Ontario public health experts believe it will be the “dominant version of the virus” by March.
While the province finally reached a two-month low in new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, Peel’s per capita infection rate is still the highest in the province, as health officials continue to investigate a massive outbreak linked to a Mississauga postal facility.
The move to hand over management of the City’s real estate portfolio to an arms-length company has faced mounting questions since the plan was taken over by the CAO’s office.
The first set of red flags was raised when it was revealed the consultant hired to shape the corporation has close ties to Mayor Patrick Brown. Now councillors are concerned that tough questions are not being answered.
The Official Opposition has promised to cancel the controversial GTA West Highway if it forms the government or plays a part in a coalition after the 2022 provincial election.
The project, which threatens sensitive lands throughout Peel Region, was scrapped in 2018 by the Liberals and then restarted by the Progressive Conservatives in 2019.
While councillors tell residents about the low tax increases they have secured, few are talking about the spiralling cost of water in Peel.
After enduring an increase of more than 7 percent in 2020, people in Brampton, Mississauga and parts of Caledon will find themselves paying a further 5.5 percent for utilities in 2021 ahead of an even larger increase in 2022.
Brampton Centre MP Ramesh Sangha has been removed from the Liberal caucus after making “baseless and dangerous" accusations about some of his fellow MPs, the government whip’s office said.
The move means the Liberals will enter the next federal election with a rookie candidate, similar to 2019 when Maninder Sidhu stood for the first time after Raj Grewal stepped aside.
The Brampton-East MPP is no stranger to trends and viral videos, with over 1.4 million likes on his TikTok account.
But quantity does not always equal quality, and while Singh is often a vocal advocate on the issues that matter to Brampton, these messages can sometimes be lost among opinions, and viral trends that are trying to sell constituents on the “Gurratan Singh” brand.
The City will not be the first to explore the option. Some, like Toronto, have already established an in-house ombud to look into complaints related to City Hall practises. What remains unclear is if this is the best option to serve residents and those council members who are growing increasingly frustrated over the lack of transparency under Brown's mayoralty.
Before the pandemic, transit ridership in Brampton grew year after year. Between 2017 and 2018, it increased by 14 percent alone. With the city’s rapidly growing population, all trends point toward this increase continuing. But Patrick Brown’s demands for tax freezes now raise questions about how the City will pay for its own transit expansion plans.
Last week, councillors in Caledon asked the Province to consider an unusual move to increase local control over the broad planning process.
A town council motion, light on detail and heavy on direction, was approved asking for Peel and Caledon to get special planning status. It’s the latest development in Caledon’s souring relations with the Region of Peel, after losing two council seats late last year.
While most students are learning from home, some in Peel with special needs still require direct supervision and support.
Braving high infection case counts and unable to socially distance in many situations, with immediate contact unavoidable, educational assistants are sacrificing their safety to continue helping students who need assistance most.
GTA mayors, labour unions and the NDP are joining other groups including many in the medical community demanding paid sick days. The PCs say support already exists for those workers forced to go into factories, plants and other facilities where many continue to contract the novel coronavirus. NDP leaders are demanding Ford reopen the legislature before February to enact an emergency Bill that would provide guaranteed sick days for those who desperately need them.
Despite an online petition that thousands of local residents have signed to save the Burnhamthorpe Community Centre outdoor ice rink, the demolition will continue as planned, to make way for a new pool and renovated community centre. Following the City’s decision to reject the online petition, residents are raising concerns over the lack of transparency behind the move.
The new measure came about after Mayor Patrick Brown and Councillor Rowena Santos were impersonated on social media late last year.
In response, staff took it upon themselves to make sure it never happens again, raising questions about free speech rights and prompting frustration from some councillors concerned about the lack of public debate around what the proposed social media surveillance of citizens actually means.
Brampton is following Toronto’s lead, instituting a mandatory mask policy at the City’s outdoor skating rinks. It also continues to leave outdoor winter amenities, such as tobogganing hills and trails, open for use to promote exercise and the mental-well being of residents.
The federal and provincial governments have combined to provide $113.5 million to Mississauga to fund 12 transit-related projects, a two-kilometre BRT among them.
The investment is a boon for City Hall, but leaves hundreds of millions of dollars still unfunded in the city’s ambitious transit plans.
In the eyes of some progressive planners, Queen Street holds the key to Brampton’s future. A new business case from Metrolinx outlines how to install rapid transit along the route and how much it will cost, but City Council, which has approved Mayor Patrick Brown’s tax freezes for three straight years, isn’t sure where the money will come from.
Nearly a month after Premier Doug Ford issued a province-wide lockdown, and only days after he attempted to strengthen that measure with a stay-at-home order, data from the Region of Peel show increased hospitalizations and coronavirus case numbers that are unparalleled across the province.
The Brampton mayor is a career politician. His social media pages reflect that. But unlike many others, he allows residents to enter a conversation with him through social media about issues pertaining to the city, something few elected officials do. Unfortunately, he often uses social media to make claims that are not accurate.
Regional Council is set to establish the financial blueprint for the current year. Elected officials will debate staff recommendations for the 2021 budget that include increases of 1.3 percent to property taxes for the Region’s share of the bill, and 5.5 percent to utility rates.
Affordable housing and other social services that have long been neglected will be addressed while councillors grapple with the ongoing financial impacts of the pandemic.
Council is supposed to make a crucial decision that could impact the city’s future development plans for decades. A central realty group, run under a municipal development corporation, has been proposed. But it’s raising more questions about how decisions have been made since Patrick Brown became mayor, after his dramatic fall from provincial politics in 2018.
A first dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been given to every resident of 28 long-term care homes and 15 at-risk retirement residences in Peel.
Next, officials will continue to vaccinate frontline health workers as they complete the logistics on a mammoth vaccine rollout.
As traditional journalism outlets continue to struggle – with disruption, a growing lack of trust and outdated business models – the dilemma faced by society now and in the future, is how we embrace our social media platforms. Recent studies show the limitations and potential harm of these sites. Even some who created and engineered them into tech giants are raising red flags because of the impact they are having on addicting our youth. In Part 1 of a 2-part series, we will look at today’s social media behemoths and the failures of traditional journalism outlets.
As people continue to adjust during the stay-at-home restrictions in Ontario, some gaping loopholes remain in place. While police and bylaw officers can force residents to refrain from local trips, travelling to the airport and flying abroad remain acceptable explanations for leaving the house.
For more than 30 years, local leaders in Peel have been vying to attract proportional funding to the region, which receives less than half the per capita dollars of other Ontario municipalities, according to its last “fair share” campaign effort. But funding roadblocks in everything from healthcare to housing have left frustrated residents with more questions than answers as to why the region remains passed over on critical funding opportunities.
