The numbers don’t look good just days ahead of the expected federal election call. Jagmeet Singh’s NDP stands a good chance of losing a significant number of seats. Procrastination in naming candidates and internal strife have given the NDP an air of disorganization — not least in Mississauga, where only one NDP candidate has even been named, as of Saturday.
The Liberal Leader made a surprise fundraising visit to Brampton Thursday. Strangely, the event was for an Oakville candidate, but it’s clear Justin Trudeau is looking to consolidate the 905. The country’s sixth and ninth largest cities, which the party swept in 2015, will be the key. The evening gave some of the incumbents a moment in the spotlight, including Mississauga Centre’s Omar Alghabra, who said residents in his riding have one clear message about the type of leader they don’t want to see.
Count Brampton resident Frank Murphy as one of those not fazed by the news that the average waiting time for a hospital bed in Ontario recently hit 16 hours — a signal of a worsening trend. But then, he once spent three days in a Brampton Civic Hospital hallway waiting for a bed after he injured a leg.
Civic’s average remains higher than the provincial one.
Mississauga Councillor Carolyn Parrish is proposing rules that would put Peel Region councillors in charge of approving all regional contracts over $50,000 — much lower than the current $250,000.
The move follows revelations that senior regional staff quietly hired and directed a consultants’ report to prove that Peel Region should stay intact — while undermining Mississauga’s bid to secede.
The popular festival highlights Mississauga’s vibrant Muslim community and bridge-building with others, in contrast to the heightened suspicions and discrimination in evidence of late at the U.S. border, where numerous Muslim men on family trips report being turned away for unknown reasons.
A move to buy 11 more of the less-polluting buses marks another step toward an inevitable transition to all-electric, says the commissioner of transportation.
Currently, MiWay’s fleet is the City of Mississauga’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, higher even than city-owned buildings.
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Work is underway at Brampton city hall to host a multidisciplinary arts festival as early as October 2020, as a means of boosting the city’s neglected arts scene.
Championed by Councillor Charmaine Williams, the event would build on the popularity of the all-night festival in Toronto and other cities, in keeping with the city’s ambitious Culture Master Plan.
A trio of property owners at Wednesday’s committee meeting took councillors to task about the significant hidden expenses involved in registering a basement apartment.
The inspection and renovation requirements can be complicated, costly and intimidating. But balancing the needs of the city and landlords isn’t easy, especially when there is safety to consider.
Poll averages suggest much of the city is sticking with the party in power, with the NDP slow off the mark even to name candidates. Navdeep Bains, the highest-profile incumbent, is leading the pack in a riding that poll aggregator 338Canada deems “safe” for the Grits.
But voters may be paying much more attention to the two-way race among national party leaders than their local candidates.
Contrary to the last federal election, when all five of the city’s federal seats flipped from one party to another, it looks like voters may be sticking with the Liberals come October.
At least, that’s what the polls seem to be showing. Here’s a look at where things stand across the city as the campaign gears up ahead of the fall sprint to the federal election.
Darren John, who raps under the name Avalanche the Architect, is appealing a 2015 conviction for uttering threats contained in the lyrics of one of his songs, following a feud with his former music promoter.
As that case is set to be heard in December, two judges and a judicial body have identified issues with John’s treatment in court during other legal matters, pointing out bias and prejudice against him. It’s a systemic issue that John says has plagued him over the past two decades while he’s been forced to deal with a justice system that only sees him as a big, bad Black man, not a person.
Emails and documents obtained by The Pointer show an external analysis quietly ordered by senior regional staff to study possible scenarios for the future of Peel was preordained to favour the preservation of regional government.
Top region executives Nando Iannicca (chair/CEO), Stephen VanOfwegen (CFO) and David Szwarc (former CAO), working with an outside consultant without regional council’s knowledge, took steps to ensure the outcome while undermining the credibility of a financial report Mississauga used to back its claim that the city would be better off as an independent municipality.
Court documents allege that a group of doctors with the Brampton-based Wise Elephant Family Health Team may have misappropriated $700,000 or more from the organization's funds.
Dr. Andrew Johnson is suing doctors Sanjeev Goel and Lopita Banerjee, among other physicians, accusing them of misusing the funds, including for expensive trips to Peru and India, breaching their contract with him, and defamation.
The necklace of projects that will re-make the city’s once abused waterfront, is dominated by the Lakeview Village plan. Yet, it is not exactly what the late Ward 1 councillor Jim Tovey and the Lakeview Ratepayer’s Association envisioned when they brought forward a community driven plan to win back the lakefront for the citizens living in southeast Mississauga. The Four Sisters was the worst of ugly, industrial post-war thinking. On pristine waterfront its towering smokestacks were built far beyond a human scale. Has this city learned from its past, or is it fated to make the same mistakes all over again?
When it comes to getting the ear of Ottawa, there’s no time like election time. Brown says he’s ready and able to put Brampton’s case in front of the party leaders, who are all calling for meetings.
Here’s a look at what the mayor and Justin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer and Jagmeet Singh are likely to talk about when the big party leaders arrive at city hall.
There’s an ambitious agenda ahead for councillors that will inevitably add up to some delays on important projects.
The anticipated appointment of a new CAO might help, especially in the fallout from this fall’s expected announcement on the future of Peel Region government.
The Liberal government touted the numbers last week as it marked four years of investments in affordable housing through its National Housing Strategy.
But the nearly 14,000 households on the waitlist in Peel might be left wondering why more of that largesse hasn’t come to the fast-growing region.
Mayor Patrick Brown says a united front, graphic numbers and frank conversation are going a long way toward convincing the province that Brampton has a point when it complains it’s not getting its fair share.
A recent conference in Ottawa may prove to have been a turning point.
Does this city want a professional star and visionary to occupy the office of chief administrator or someone who will just keep the seat warm while the real powers that be, the politicos, continue to flail away at trying to turn this into a world class city? The next big hire at city hall will be the most important one yet – and could impact Brampton for decades to come.
The high-pressure, high-stress world of a paramedic’s daily work contributes to a rate of suicide almost triple the national average. PTSD took the life of Peel paramedic Chris Rix two years ago.
His widow, Michelle, and work partner Caitlin remember Chris and the deep inner pain that led to his untimely death at the age of 40.
Caroline Mulroney, along with Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster, MPPs Prabmeet Sarkaria, Amarjot Sandhu and Kinga Surma were at Brampton GO on Thursday to announce expanded service on the Kitchener line.
Just like they did two weeks ago, with no further details.
Nishan Duraiappah in Peel and Peter Sloly in Ottawa are among the progressives recently named chiefs of major municipal police forces.
Their fresh perspectives could shake up entrenched police cultures that have created a divide between officers and the people they serve and lead to a more community-based approach to crime prevention.
The fate of food production will be front and centre when two billion more people populate this planet by the year 2050. A Brampton couple has started a company that blends old-style gardening with new techniques in urban agriculture to feed us with wholesome food.
While the earth battles a climate crisis, a world-wide movement called agroecology might help save us from ourselves. This is now playing itself out in full leafy colour on the streets of downtown Brampton.
With only a few days left before the start of school Ontario teachers still don’t have a new contract.
The province and union teams are negotiating quietly, but there appears to be no imminent deal before contracts expire Saturday Aug. 31. Education Minister Stephen Lecce might update the situation later today.
A special meeting on Wednesday affirmed the appointment of executive headhunting firm Odgers Berndtson to recruit a new top bureaucrat for the city.
December will mark a full year since former chief administrative officer Harry Schlange was fired.
Amid a raft of big federal announcements for transit in the runup to this fall’s election, there’s reason for Brampton to be jealous of places like Toronto, Quebec City and London.
Neighbour Mississauga can celebrate how its provincially funded LRT is moving ahead with the choice of a project manager. But Brampton’s absence from the largesse list can be traced to city council’s dithering.
Stronger supports for survivors through the court process could result in more convictions as well as less traumatic outcomes for human trafficking victims.
It’s a big issue for Peel, which has an extremely high incidence of sex trafficking. But it’s not clear how much of a $54-million crime fund just announced by Ottawa and Queen’s Park will help the region deal with a rapid uptick in cases.
Unions aren’t speaking out on the province’s last-minute backtracking on controversial key issues — including high school class sizes. But they’re also in the thick of talks to renegotiate their contracts, which expire this Saturday. It’s not clear how the Doug Ford government’s latest decision, after months of public backlash, will affect the new school year, which begins next week.
The province and the federal government uncharacteristically came together Monday to reveal a $54-million fund to combat violent crime in Ontario.
Peel Region will also be home to an “intensive firearms bail team,” a group of Crown attorneys that will provide expert feedback on firearms offenders whose requests for bail are under review.
Last week’s annual meeting of Ontario’s 400-plus municipalities featured lots of backtracking by the ruling PC government after its plans to download even more costs onto homeowners. Property taxpayers are being crippled by all the costs falling on their shoulders. If the federal and provincial governments are incapable of growing the economy to increase public funding, cities and towns have to be given more revenue tools. Otherwise, homeowners will drown in property taxes.
The city’s Cycling Advisory Committee is gearing up to submit its proposed Active Transportation Master Plan to the Brampton planning committee. The plan includes creating an ambitious cycling network. But there are big challenges to be overcome if Brampton wants to realize the dream of becoming a more active city.
Having already planned for staffing cuts in response to the PC government’s plan to dramatically increase high school class sizes, Thursday’s surprise announcement to scrap the move, just two weeks before school starts, has thrown Peel’s two public school boards into the wringer. The boards already sent layoff notices to teachers in anticipation of having fewer classes, and some courses were put on the chopping block. But now, the boards will have to scramble to recalibrate the entire high school system based on the existing classroom size caps.
Nurses and doctors in the emergency room. Lawyers working in our courts. And even firefighters who respond to a range of calls in the community.
They all brush up against the victims and perpetrators of human trafficking. For those fighting this growing global crime, certain professions that deal closely with the public, often when people are in distress, can be an invaluable resource. Building bridges with them is the first step.
Ontario’s Minister of Education Stephen Lecce announced on Wednesday the rollout of the province’s much anticipated revised sexual education curriculum.
Doug Ford had promised to scrap the Kathleen Wynne-era framework, but the new plan borrows heavily from the same approach used by the previous Liberal government, despite the premier’s election pledge. The move has left some parents in Peel upset.
A community safety plan to focus stakeholders on curbing youth violence in Peel as a new chief is set to arrive, is the key to addressing the rise in crime. A new regional plan mandated by the province is now taking shape, just as the incoming chief of police is set to take over the third largest municipal force in the country in October. He says crime has to be approached with an “upstream” strategy, tackling the root social and environmental factors that push young people in the wrong direction.
Health Minister Christine Elliott announced Monday that all municipalities across Ontario will share costs of public health funding on a 70-30 ratio. For the Region of Peel, this was good news as it will lighten the cost of paying for public health. The region has previously covered 37 percent of the pricetag. But Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown warns that provincial cuts in other areas will pose a significant challenge for the city’s taxpayers.
It only takes one spark to light a local politician into action on behalf of a worthwhile cause. The rising rate of human trafficking in our cities should propel our local leaders to join advocacy efforts around the world.
The ongoing annual meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario is the perfect place for the latest warrior in the fight against this modern form of slavery to emerge. All it takes is for the light to be switched on.
A big step toward achieving GO train service that runs all day, both ways, through Brampton is coming in September. Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney, along with Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster, announced the addition of scores of new trips on several lines, including 50 new trains per week on the Kitchener line.
A who’s who of municipal and provincial leaders are in Ottawa this week to schmooze, plan and discuss some of the most pressing concerns facing municipalities today.
In this first of a three part series, The Pointer looks at three reasons why the issue of human trafficking should be among them.
The game at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario is simple: give a provincial minister what amounts to an elevator pitch for priority projects that need the big bucks. Councillors get 15 minutes to present their wants — a new LRT, a new hospital — to each minister and see if they can make their priorities stick. Here’s what Brampton councillors will be pitching in Ottawa starting today.
Journalist John Ivison has penned a profile of Justin Trudeau, as Brampton voters and many other Canadians decide whether or not the son of a formidable former leader has what it takes to steer our country during these politically volatile times.
Ceremonies marking the independence of Pakistan and India on consecutive days this week brought together two Brampton communities. It was a refreshing opportunity to mingle, despite international tensions in the background over Kashmir. The two countries have a long history of animosity since they were carved from a singular entity; in one of the world’s most diverse cities, the communities strive to celebrate their shared Canadian values, while leaving behind the decades-old tensions that define bitter attitudes in the sub-continent.
Police and municipal leaders like to point to stats showing that Mississauga and Brampton have a lower rate of violent crime than many other cities.
And while that’s true — for now — just-released national crime statistics show that the violent crime severity rate is worsening three times faster here than the national average.
Four officers who resigned from the Peel police service last month accepted a one-year conditional sentence after admitting to obstructing justice following a bizarre theft of a Scarface movie character’s statue from an accused man’s storage unit.
The criminal defence lawyer who brought the theft — and their lies about it — to light thinks neither the police service nor the court went far enough in making an example of them.
The provincial government’s list of contributions to Brampton healthcare this year includes more than $2.5 million for mental health and addictions services. But it says it’s still waiting for capital planning submissions for the single infrastructure project that’s already on the books: phase two of Peel Memorial Centre, a preventative wellness facility that offers traditional and alternative health care.
Brampton has committed to working seriously on developing a new environmental institute that will coordinate green activities and advise council on a broad range of decisions that affect sustainability.
The city has hired a consultant to work on refining the concept. But David Laing, who leads a group developing and championing the idea, has concerns about what direction the municipality wants to take the project — and how citizen advocates will or won’t be involved in shaping it.
Nish Duraiappah will be the first Ontario police chief of South Asian heritage when he takes over the Peel Police Service in October. But in a wide-ranging interview with The Pointer, the Twitter-savvy father of three waves off that historic point to reflect on the changing community role of policing, how to build a progressive, diverse and forward-thinking police force in Peel, and ways to curb violent crime before it happens.
In a police service described as “change-averse,” the widely praised Halton Region deputy chief has a steep challenge ahead.
Money to add 168 new long-term care beds is good news for Brampton, but that’s a drop in the bucket in this fast-growing city. Here’s a look at how Vaughan and other cities around Ontario are benefiting from millions in provincial healthcare dollars, while Brampton continues to cope with a single full-service hospital too small for its burgeoning population.
Council voted last week to establish a committee to find a replacement CAO, but it’s not clear why it took so long.
The city’s top job has been occupied temporarily by Joseph Pittari, who is rotating back to his old position as commissioner of corporate services. Al Meneses will serve as acting CAO in the interim, just another round of the musical chairs game afflicting senior management.
Raj Grewal, the controversial Brampton East MP, has largely stayed mum and dodged media attention since remaining in Parliament as an independent, after being kicked out of the Liberal caucus last November amid a gambling scandal. But with the federal election around the corner, his silence about whether he plans to run again has added tension rather than dispersing it.
