The Ford government is forging ahead with its plans to modify Peel Region, a month after it announced it was scrapping a policy to split it into three single-tier municipalities.
In a series of housing-related backtracks at the end of the year, Ontario’s Housing Minister Paul Calandra announced he would cancel plans to split Peel Region into independent cities of Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga.
The move saw Ontario Premier Doug Ford reverse a promise he made just months earlier that would have granted a life-long wish of former Mississauga mayor and Ford mentor Hazel McCallion.
The reversal does not, however, mean the end of changes in Peel.
A letter sent to the chair of the Peel Region Transition Board by Calandra, and obtained by Global News, outlines a series of priorities the government still wants to see changed.
In the letter amending the scope of the panel, the housing minister said he wanted to see the five provincially appointed experts zero in on changes to land planning, water and wastewater, regional roads and waste management.
“All other services delivered by the Region of Peel are considered out of scope for the Transition Board at this time,” Calandra wrote.
The Region of Peel is also responsible for services such as homelessness, accessible transit, public health and paramedics.
The goal, Calandra’s letter said, is for local staff at the three lower-tier municipalities to be ready to take control of planning work currently done by the Region of Peel in the near future.
The board has been told to make sure Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga have enough staff and resources to take on the change, which will happen when Calandra accepts the Region of Peel’s new official plan.
The transition board has also been told to look at options to review the delivery of water services and ensure they remain in public control.
Recommendations from the board are due in the spring.
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