Child of divorce: Caledon mayor says she didn’t want to leave Peel Region

The mayors of Brampton and Mississauga have been sparing for weeks over what independence could mean for their cities—but for the Town of Caledon the decision to dissolve Peel Region appears to have come as a surprise.

“It’s not a move that we wanted,” Mayor Annette Groves told reporters Thursday. “We've always maintained a position that we felt that the region has worked really well. It isn't something that we wanted.”

The Ontario government put forward legislation Thursday that will dissolve the Region of Peel and make all three municipalities within it independent, single-tier entities.

No longer will there be a regional government to govern shared services and economic growth and development. As of January 2025, each city will be responsible for its own governance.

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The mayors of Brampton and Mississauga squabbled through Thursday’s provincial news conference much like they have in the lead up to the announcement, arguing over how much money would be owed in the split. After a few questions, Groves stepped up to the podium, interrupting to say that Caledon was the “child” in this “divorce.”

“We want to speak,” she said, before saying she was confident the decision to dissolve the region was not taken lightly.

“We are confident that we will be taken care of throughout this process,” she said.

Caledon Mayor Annette Groves and Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie attend a news conference at the Ontario legislature in Toronto on Thursday, May 18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

“I don't have any issues here in making sure that Caledon residents will be well served through this divorce. I had a great divorce. I didn’t even need a lawyer and my ex-husband comes and lets my dog out and takes my garbage out.”

Groves told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday that she hadn’t been briefed about the province’s plans, but on Thursday she seemed amiable to the idea, even while acknowledging that her city benefited from being within Peel Region.

Caledon is a town north of Brampton with over 76,000 residents and makes up about 56 per cent of land within Peel.

“I will say that Caledon will be the next frontier of growth,” Groves said. “We are expected to take a lot of greenfield development and so we will need services, we will need to be made whole.”

• MORE: What will dissolving Peel mean for Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon?

The “made whole” comment is a reference to a promise by Premier Doug Ford to ensure that municipalities don’t experience revenue losses as a result of the split. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has repeated this pledge as evidence that his city will be reimbursed for financially supporting infrastructure in other municipalities.

A transition board will be created sometime this year to help sort through the region’s assets and services. As it stands, there remain a lot of questions around how this separation will work.