Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown revelations about the huge cost of disolving Peel Region appear to have got the attention of the Doug Ford government. Media reports suggest that the province could be reconsidering the move that would see Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon become independent municipalities in 2025.
A source told CBC that the province and transition board appointed to oversee the breakup of Peel Region are shocked by the cost of dissolution and the fact that it may cause massive tax increases in all three municipalities.
Last week Mayor Brown had said that the breakup of Peel could mean a historic 38% increase in taxes and operational cost of $1.31 billion. He also expressed concerns that paramedic services in the region could be negatively impacted by the disolution.
Caledon Mayor Annette Groves has also urged the province to rethink the dissolution.
The Toronto Star also reported on Tuesday that its sources say Premier Doug Ford is poised to cancel his plan to dissolve the region.
Meanwhile Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, continues to defend the move and push for independence.
“The premier and I don’t agree on a lot of things, but we do agree on dissolution of the region of Peel,” Crombie said at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.
She called Brown’s cost revelations “a political stunt”.
“The work on transition continues and is going well,” Crombie said in a statement. This report is nothing more than an attempt to distract from the tough conversations that Brampton will have to have with its residents and businesses in the months and years to come.”
There has been no comment from the provincial government yet and it would be interesting to see how the Ford government walks back this decision given the implications that it has not done its homework on how the disolution of Peel would impact Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
