There was a provincial study ordered by the conservative government when it came into office in 2018 of the organizational needs of Peel Region and other major urban centres. With Peel Region’s unwieldy mix of the City of Mississauga, the City of Brampton and rural Caledon and the services each municipality requires, some serious re-organization is needed. It is regretful that the study came up with nothing as nothing has been heard of the study since.
The awkward problem of concern to Mississauga is that a large part of their municipal taxes is spread across the region by Peel County, paying for some of the needs of Brampton and Caledon.
Mississauga, with a population of almost 800,000, is the third largest city in Ontario. It can no longer be left as a two-tier municipality, with Peel Region providing some of the shared services and also, needlessly, duplicating others. As things stand, Mississauga is making a good case for it to be a stand-alone city.
A good alternative is for Brampton to become part of Mississauga and for the Caledon portion of Peel County to be combined with similar Dufferin County.
This solution solves many of the problems that Brampton mayor Patrick Brown complains about. These two cities having interlocking public transportation services makes a great deal of sense. It improves the economic viability of both with the interchange of skilled help. It also means that Brampton would not have to obtain its own water supply as it already has the service connected through Mississauga.
This absorption of Brampton into Mississauga will add under 700,000 citizens to the city of Mississauga and will give balance to the to the services required throughout the enlarged city. It will also save substantial administrative costs as it will now be operated as a single tier city similar to Toronto.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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