Mayor Bonnie Crombie renews call for Mississauga to separate from Peel Region

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is renewing her call for the city to separate from Peel Region, saying "it is time" as she campaigns for re-election.

Crombie, who is seeking a third term as mayor, said on the weekend that Mississauga has outgrown regional government. She said the city covers 60 per cent of the costs but has only 50 per cent of the vote in the region it shares with Brampton and Caledon. 

The idea of Mississauga going its own way is not new, but Crombie has given it a new name: "Certainly, this is Mexit."

She said she is determined to finish the job she inherited from her predecessor, Hazel McCallion, to make Mississauga a free and independent city. She said it is about value and fairness but it would take political will on the part of the Ontario government to change the city's status.

"We could control our own destiny at one table," Crombie told CBC Toronto. 

"This is about value for taxpayers' dollars, spending taxpayers' dollars right here in Mississauga and not sending them to other municipalities. This is about our priorities and not having to get approval for our priorities at a different council table. It makes a lot of sense. It is time." 

Crombie faces seven challengers in the race for the mayor's chair. One says political independence could harm the city. Two support the idea of separation from Peel, but a fourth remains unconvinced. 

A political scientist, meanwhile, thinks the pitch is "a real long shot," but a smart political strategy, because it sends the message that Crombie stands up for Mississauga.

If re-elected, Crombie said she will continue to pressure the Ontario government to allow Mississauga to leave.

"This is right thing to do for a lot of reasons: fairness, equity, good value for taxpayers' money, eliminating and reducing red tape, expediting the development process and getting more housing built," she said.

Crombie said Mississauga deserves to be a single-tier city, as the third largest in Ontario. Other single-tier cities in Ontario include Ottawa and Windsor. According to the Ontario government, Mississauga is what is called a "lower tier" municipality in a two-tiered structure.

Crombie said it is also not clear how new legislation that creates a strong mayor system would work in Mississauga, if the powers were granted to the city and given that the city remains part of a larger region. 

As well, she said Mississauga endured extensive lockdowns due to COVID-19, even though its case numbers were lower than that of Brampton, but it would have more control over public health measures if it were its own city with its own public health unit, she said. 

Political independence would give it autonomy and control over its affairs, she added.

Other candidates have mixed views of idea

Candidate George Tavares, a long-time Mississauga resident and an electronic engineering technologist, noted in an email that Peel provides and shares the costs for such services as waste collection, policing, paramedic services, regional roads, sewers, water services and regional planning, in addition to public health.

If Mississauga were to separate, the city could suffer in many areas, including higher taxes and delays in policing, paramedics, and public health, he said.

"If there is the slightest chance in those areas being disrupted, then my position is a 'Hard Pass' in separating," Tavares said in the email.

"There is no ability to separate from Peel that will not harm the City of Mississauga. If there was, it would have been done four years ago when it was first introduced." 

Candidates Derek Ramkissoon, a businessman, and David Shaw, a recently retired fire protection and life safety expert, said they support the idea.

Ramkissoon said in an email: "I believe that the separation has to be gradual so the other cities would also be able to adjust with the change in economics of it."

Shaw said in an email that he would look at the idea if elected but supports it for different reasons than Crombie does. He said Mississauga needs to run itself without other levels of government demanding it take action or financial penalties will be levied. The move could save tax dollars, he added.

"Less government is better for Mississauga," he said.

Candidate Bobie Taffe, a businesswoman who runs several companies, said she has yet to be persuaded that separation is a good idea and more study is needed on its impact.

"I do see some merit in it but at the same time I have a hard time really identifying the pros and the cons," she said.

Regional governance not 'a burning topic': Brown

Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University, said Ontario Premier Doug Ford is unlikely to let Mississauga leave Peel Region, even though the city is the seventh largest municipality in Canada and the only one that does not have full control over its municipal responsibilities.

"I don't think that Premier Ford sees any advantage to risking a current status quo where he has very strong support across Peel Region," he said. 

But Siemiatycki said pitching the idea at this point in the campaign is a smart political strategy.

"Mayor Crombie is playing an electoral card that is tried and true of, 'Elect me. I'm the person who stands up for us.'"

In 2019, a motion endorsed by Crombie to leave Peel Region passed at Mississauga city council. McCallion started the push decades ago for Mississauga to secede.

Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark did not respond to a request for comment.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said he supports changes in Peel Region because there is duplication of services. But he noted that it is not a "burning topic" he's hearing from voters.

"I have yet to hear anyone bring up the topic of regional governance," he said.

Overall, though, Brown said pooling resources saves money. 

"If it saves money for taxpayers, then that's what is important," he said.