Ontario is reversing course on the decision to dissolve the Region of Peel, citing concerns of significant municipal tax hikes as a result of the process.
Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said in the announcement Wednesday that the government would push forward new legislation to reverse the dissolvement and “recalibrate the mandate” of the board that had been leading the transition.
“While we originally thought that the best way to achieve our goals of better services and lower taxes was through dissolution, we’ve since heard loud and clear from municipal leaders and stakeholders that full dissolution would lead to significant tax hikes and disruption to critical services the people of Peel Region depend on. This is something our government will never support,” said Calandra.
“While some might be okay with raising taxes on hard-working people, families, and businesses, we aren’t. This new mandate of the board will deliver improvements to local services like police, paramedics and public health while always respecting taxpayers.”
It follows months of pushback from Brampton’s Mayor Patrick Brown, who flagged that the break-up could have detrimental effects on the delivery of essential services from police, paramedics and front-line workers to residents in the area.
READ MORE: Minister says no decisions made on ‘potential’ dissolution of Peel Region
Brown said the dissolution would ultimately cost his city upwards of $1-billion and an inevitable hike in taxes.
Mayor of Mississauga and the newly elected leader of the province’s Liberal Party, Bonnie Crombie, had questioned the accuracy of Brown’s figures and supported the move.
Watching Minister @PaulCalandra announce the cancellation of the Region of Peel dissolution.
The Ford government has stopped a potential financial train wreck and diminished emergency services across the board.
It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.
This is… pic.twitter.com/CmSZVpN3G6
— Patrick Brown (@patrickbrownont) December 13, 2023
The Conservatives fast-tracked legislation, titled the Hazel McCallion Act, that would allow for direct public consultation to be skipped over in favour of the use of transition boards to review issues pertaining to finance, governance and shared essential services.
Five members were appointed to a transition board to facilitate the transition of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon into three separate municipalities back in August.
READ MORE: Ontario tables legislation to reverse urban boundary expansions
The initial decision would have seen the region dissolved by the beginning of January, 2025 with the help of the transition board to provide recommendations to the minister on winding down the region’s financial operations and the long-term sustainability of each operating as single-tier municipalities.
The new mandate being formed for the transition board will ask that board to bring forward recommendations on how the delivery of services can be optimized to “support the
commitment to build more homes.”
It is a move the government says will remove “the duplicative layer of regional bureaucracy” from services needed to build more homes faster and meet the housing needs of those in the Peel region.
This is the latest in a series of reversals led by Calandra since he took over the role from his predecessor. Just last month, the government tabled legislation to reverse the expansion of urban boundaries that would allow the province to change official plans for a series of municipalities, including in Peel, Hamilton, Halton and Niagara.
Prior to that announcement, Premier Doug Ford announced that he would be reversing the course set out for the Greenbelt.
