Mississauga Ward 5 election underway alongside mayoral race

As Mississaugans head to the polls to choose their next mayor, those living in Ward 5 will face another choice too: who to elect as their next councillor. 

Ward 5, located in the northeast quarter of the city, includes the communities of Malton, Britannia Woods, as well as Pearson airport and significant industrial areas.The seat was vacated by longtime councillor Carolyn Parrish, who chose to step down as of March 15 to run for mayor. 

Ward 5 resident Mike Zaremis says he has one big piece of advice for whoever wants to be the councillor for the area next.

"Just make sure you're a local resident," Zaremis said. He says the ward has big challenges and needs someone familiar with the area to make a difference.

Past Ward 5 councillors have gone on to hold other political roles, including former Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie, now Ontario Liberal Leader. Her predecessor Eve Adams, went on to become an MP.

Housing, sense of community among key issues

CBC Toronto held a listening session at Malton Community Centre on May 15 to hear from residents about what they view as the top issues in the Ward 5 election. Residents told us housing, homelessness and building a stronger sense of community in the ward were high on the list of issues they believe the next councillor should tackle

Resident Jayshree Patel-Surrey says with 15 candidates, the vote could split multiple ways, but whoever wins the election needs to remember they represent everyone.

"They need to be inclusive... include everybody in their decisions, not just groups that are supporting them the strongest in the election," she said.

That's critical in such a diverse community, she says. The right councillor could bring people together, especially if they did more to infuse the community with celebrations and events open to all. She says the area used to have more events years ago, especially in Malton, but they've fallen off. She says city funding could also be given to cultural groups holding events to make them bigger to accommodate the wider community

Jayeson Earl, who lives in Malton, says whoever is elected must work hard to clean up the ward by addressing litter and must also address growing housing affordability concerns.

He says the new councillor has their work cut out for them and that nobody running should expect an easy ride.

"There's a housing problem. And there has to be something done about that," said Earl.

Election day for Ward 5 is June 10, the same as the mayoral by-election. To vote, you must be a Canadian citizen over 18 years of age and must either be a resident of the ward or you or your spouse must own or rent property there.

Here's the full list of candidates for Ward 5:

• Omer Abdalla
• Hamid Akbar
• Amir Ali
• Kristin Datto
• Jordan Gray
• Natalie Hart
• Imran Hasan
• Ehsan Khandaker
• Bradley MacDonald
• Tazeen Rizvi
• Rosemarie Sanchez Sanchez
• Manish Sawhney
• Shelly Scott-England
• Danny Singh
• Rana Zia