Patrick Brown responds to prospect of being the ‘last mayor of Brampton’
Brampton Guardian
With the provincial government conducting a review of regional municipal governance, could Patrick Brown end up being the last mayor of Brampton?
Brown was asked that very question following his annual state of the city address hosted by the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT) on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves in terms of the process that the province is undertaking. Four years ago, they started a similar process. What I would say is that I think it’s healthy to look at whether there are redundancies,” he told the crowd of approximately 450 people in attendance at the event.
“The frustration we have on a Brampton level is sometimes the planning process gets delayed because of the redundancy by having planning departments at the Region of Peel and the City of Brampton. So, we do need to find ways to deliver services more efficiently. I welcome the fact that the province is looking at ways to create more investment and build more housing supply,” the mayor added.
It remains unclear which direction the Doug Ford government will take in Peel Region. The province could decide to eliminate the Region of Peel and make Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon independent municipalities, amalgamate the three communities into a single “City of Peel,” or just leave things as they are as was decided the last time a review was undertaken.
The next step in the process is the province appointing a facilitator to conduct the review. There has been no announcement from the province of anyone being appointed or any specific timelines outlined for the review itself.
“We’re waiting for a facilitator, and I look forward to it,” Peel Region Chair Nando Iannicca said in an interview in January.
Iannicca was appointed as Peel Region chair by Premier Doug Ford after the province decided to change how regional chairs were selected following the October municipal election.
He said he thinks the province will eventually take the amalgamation route rather than separating Peel’s three communities into single entities. But he added he doesn’t believe a decision either way is imminent.
“I think the news of (Peel Region’s) death is premature, let me just put it that way. I will say this: when I started (in municipal politics) in 1988, there were 880 municipalities in Ontario. Now there’s 440. I foresee a day where we may end up with 40. That’s the direction they’re moving in,” said Iannicca.
