A coalition of community groups and some political experts say fighting for a “new deal” for Mississauga will be among the first challenges faced by the city’s next mayor.
Residents of Ontario’s third largest city will select a new mayor to replace Bonnie Crombie in a vote on Monday. And with a housing crisis, increasing congestion and serious transit needs, more funding from other levels of government will be required to address the community’s growth.
Both Toronto and Ottawa have landed deals with Premier Doug Ford over the last nine months, which help lift billions in fiscal pressure from their budgets.
In Toronto’s case, Ford agreed to upload the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, which will have positive long-term implications for the city’s capital budget. Ottawa will see a similar upload of Highway 417.
The Metamorphosis Network, a group of over 100 non-profit community agencies in Peel Region, think Mississauga’s next mayor must broker a new deal with Ontario. The agreement should help address funding in social services, they say.
“I think this election is going to be a turning point,” said Angela Carter, who is on the group’s leadership team.
“We need a leader in Mississauga that’s willing to step up … and look at how you can be a strong voice to advocate for better service, equitable service, equitable funding for the city.”
During CBC’s Mississauga mayoral election debate, candidates Dipika Damerla, Stephen Dasko and Alvin Tedjo spoke about what they would like to negotiate with both the Ontario and federal governments.
The Metamorphosis Network published a study last month, which compared social service funding levels among some of Ontario’s largest municipalities. That research found Peel ranked last of seven other cities with populations over 500,000 when comparing funding for social services, non-profit services and community health programs.
Carter is also the strategic advisor for Roots Community Services, a Black-led community and social service group in Peel. The impact of that funding gap is experienced daily by the agency’s clients as they struggle to connect to the health services, she said.
“The funding is not keeping up with the number of people that we have coming into our community,” Carter said.
Mississauga’s case for a new deal
Experts watching the race say the new mayor will need to begin lobbying the province for an agreement on day one. That could include more municipal finance tools, service or infrastructure uploads or operating funding for the city’s soon-to-open Hazel McCallion LRT.
Beyond the effect of a potential new agreement on the city’s treasury, York University politics professor Zac Spicer said a ‘new deal’ is about respect for the growing community.
“What they’re looking for here I think is, more or less, recognition,” he said.
“And that’s one of the issues that is swirling around this particular campaign is what sort of city does Mississauga want to be?”
Spicer said the city’s growth over the past few decades has seen it emerge from the shadows of Toronto, no longer just a bedroom community to the province’s capital. The city is now its own thriving community — an important contributor to Ontario’s economy.
“I think there is a bit of recognition here that Mississauga has achieved something substantial,” he said. “It’s a very different place. And that is by design.”
Murtaza Haider, director of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Urban Analytics Institute, said Mississauga’s next mayor will have a strong case to make for a ‘new deal.’
The city’s growing aerospace sector and large logistics hub around Pearson International Airport are powerful drivers of the region’s economy, he said. Those employers need strong transit links to get workers to and from work. Right now, that just isn’t happening in Mississauga if you don’t have a car, he said.
A new deal for the city doesn’t have to break the bank to deliver more effective transit, Haider said.
“Through bus rapid transit we can definitively increase the transit capacity in Mississauga, while not incurring humongous, outrageous costs in capital expenditures,” he said.
Candidates push for new deal
Mayoral candidates participating in a recent CBC Toronto debate all agreed the city needs a “new deal” to support Mississauga’s unique needs.
Alvin Tedjo said the city needs both legislative tools and a funding infusion to help to grow as a community. He also noted the report from the Metamorphosis Network, stressing that the funding gap must be addressed.
“We’re dead last in terms of funding for social services,” he said. “That’s unacceptable. We need more funding there.”
Dipika Damerla said her first job when elected would be to sit down with Premier Doug Ford and press for an agreement that recognizes the needs of the growing city, which is now Ontario’s second-largest economy.
“We’re going to use the money very judiciously,” she said. “Transit, operating costs of transit. I have an ambitious transit agenda with LRTs. And I’m going to expect the province to come through for us.”
Stephen Dasko stressed that Mississauga is on board with the province and federal government’s goals of building more density in cities. But it needs the financial support to do that, he said.
“It’s about having partners to be able to row in the same direction.”
Candidate Carolyn Parrish did not participate in the CBC Toronto debate and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy did not directly respond to a question about whether the province would be open to striking a new deal with the city.
“Our government continues to stand in strong partnership with Mississauga,” Colin Blachar said in a statement. “Maintaining a close relationship with our local partners remains critical as we continue to build Ontario.”