Ontario Construction News staff writer
The provincial government has announced it will break-up Peel Region, leaving Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon to become independent cities by 2025.
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark tabled the Hazel McCallion Act Thursday, recognition of the late mayor of Mississauga who fought for a stand-alone city.The bill enables the government to create a transition board with five members appointed by the minister of municipal affairs and housing, to help “ensure the process is fair and balanced.”
“You need to ensure the transition board is set up for success,” Clark said. “I want to get the debate moving. I want to be able to provide some certainty to these three communities that there’s a transition point in place and that we have active and fulsome discussions on the changes.
“The Region of Peel includes some of the largest and fastest-growing municipalities in Canada and is poised for significant growth over the next decade. Our government is supporting this growth by cutting red tape and improving efficiency while maintaining and improving the high level of local services Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon residents rightly expect.”
The board would provide recommendations to the province to help Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon prepare to become single-tier municipalities on January 1, 2025, when the proposed changes, if passed, would come into effect. If the legislation passes, names of the members of the board will be released in the coming weeks.
In the coming weeks, the province will also name regional facilitators to assess the upper-tier municipalities of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe, Waterloo and York. These facilitators will be tasked with reviewing whether the upper-tier government continues to be relevant to the needs of its communities or whether the lower-tier municipalities are mature enough to pursue dissolution.
Where they recommend that a two-tier government is still required, the facilitators will also make recommendations on how they can more effectively respond to the issues facing Ontario’s fast-growing municipalities today, particularly when it comes to meeting municipal housing pledges and tackling the housing supply crisis.