Ford government orders transition board to focus on building homes, not breaking up Peel Region
Board to provide recommendations to transfer some services to individual Peel municipalities by spring 2024
The Ontario government has given the Peel Region transition board new marching orders, telling it to focus on speeding up home-building rather than reviewing the delivery of services like policing and paramedicine.
The Ford government abandoned its plan to dissolve the Region of Peel last month, citing the potential tax shock of the move. The government-appointed transition board, however, remained.
Housing Minister Paul Calandra sent a letter to that board this week stating it should now focus on speeding up home-building in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, reducing duplication of services and removing layers of bureaucracy.
That includes recommendations on the possible transfer of some services from Peel Region to the municipalities, which includes land use planning, water, wastewater and stormwater, regional roads and waste management. The board has been asked to "move expeditiously" on land planning use, and to maintain public ownership and control of services.
The board should also recognize the importance of "financial sustainability," Calandra said.
The recommendations will also include options around the creation of a municipal services corporation or a services board. But Calandra's letter also makes clear the transition board should not make changes to services like police or paramedics.
"All other services delivered by the Region of Peel are considered out of scope for the Transition Board at this time," he said.
Councillors split on new plan
Mississauga and Peel Region Coun. Dipika Damerla welcomed the potential transfer of services in all areas, saying it would help cut down on duplication and save taxpayers money.
"What they're doing now is they're focusing on four, only four service areas instead of trying to boil the whole ocean and dissolve the Region of Peel at one whole swoop," she said.
Coun. Caroyln Parrish, another Mississauga and Peel Region politician, said while she can see the need for transferring land use planning and roads to municipalities, she's less convinced the cities will be better off taking on the responsibility of waste management and wastewater.
"Hopefully when they look at that, they're going to see that it does work well ... and then they'll leave things as they are," Parrish said, speaking about garbage and recycling specifically.
Brampton and Peel Region Coun. Rowena Santos has similar concerns, saying someone is going to have to "find the money" to pay for new wastewater facilities if its downloaded to municipalities like Caledon and Brampton. But she hopes that the board and cities could come to the best solution for everyone.
"Priorities of the transition board for continuity of service, protecting frontline workers, making things financially sustainable, like those priorities I'm hoping will be in the forefront," she said.
Changes to the region were contentious
Premier Doug Ford initially announced in May that Peel Region, which is made up of Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon, would be dissolved through the Hazel McCallion Act, named after the former mayor who served Mississauga for 36 years. McCallion died in January at the age of 101.
"I promised Hazel many years ago... that a city of almost 800,000 people should be independent," Ford said at the time.
But both Brampton and Caledon mayors raised concerns.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown called the potential impacts of a break up "catastrophic" in a news release, citing a Deloitte report that concluded the break-up would have cost the region over $1.3 billion in operational costs and necessitated a 38 per cent tax increase.
City consultants said the cost of replacing the water treatment and wastewater facility currently in Mississauga would cost Brampton a total of $4 billion, Brown told CBC Radio's Metro Morning.
On the other hand, Caledon Mayor Annette Groves expressed concerns over losing employees over uncertainty.
"We're the forgotten child that nobody cares about," she told CBC Toronto.
Calandra backed away from the deal in December, citing "significant tax hikes and disruption to critical services the people of Peel Region depend on" should full dissolution go ahead.
The board is expected to put forward recommendations about the transfer of services from Peel to Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon by the spring.
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With files from Tyler Cheese