The transition board overseeing Peel Region’s dissolution will collectively earn more than $800,000 for just over a year and a half’s worth of work.
The five-team board spent 320 working days trying to determine how shared municipal assets will be divided. Peel Region, which will dissolve Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon beginning in 2025, is footing the bill.
The five board members have been identified as John Livey, a former deputy city manager and chief administrative officer in Toronto, Markham and York Region; infrastructure and P3 lawyer Sean Morely; York Region’s former police chief Eric Jolliffe; Tracey Cook, a former executive director of Toronto’s municipal licensing and standards division; and former Ontario financial accountability officer Peter Weltman.
Livey, the board’s chair, is slated to receive $240,000 to $480,000, which works out to $1,500 a day and $750 for three or fewer hours of work, Global News reported.
The other board members will receive between $192,000 and $384,000 for their roles, working out to $1,200 a day, and $600 for up to three hours of work.
A Peel Region spokesperson claimed such practices are commonplace.
“Reflective of past practice when it comes to municipal restructuring, the costs of the transition board and any support required by the board will be the responsibility of the Region of Peel,” the spokesperson told Global News.
The dissolution has been long championed by Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, the one-time McCallion protégée who’s currently vying to become the next leader of the provincial Liberals—who has made strides in developing Mississauga, Canada’s seventh largest city.
Peel Region comprised 1.5 million inhabitants in 2021, but is projected to break 2 million residents by 2041. Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon have respectively agreed to create 120,000, 113,000 and 13,000 new homes by 2031.
The three-way divorce in Peel Region was made official in a mid-May news release from the provincial government, which stated growth targets are likelier attainable if Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon separate.
“Our government is working with our municipal partners to provide the tools and autonomy required to deliver on our shared commitments to the people of Ontario, including addressing the housing supply crisis,” Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said in the statement.
“The Region of Peel includes some of the largest and fastest-growing municipalities in Canada and is poised for significant growth over the next decade. Our government is supporting this growth by cutting red tape and improving efficiency.”
