When Torontonians take to the polls in October to vote in a new municipal government, it will be to a ballot with only 25 wards listed. It wasn’t for lack of trying: Toronto fought a hard battle that quashed when Ford used an unprecedented clause to overturn a Supreme Court decision to keep the city’s council size at 47.
When it’s all said and done, Toronto’s 25 councillors will represent about 120,000 constituents each, up from 64,000 each in a council with 47 members.
But the lopsided representation of constituents isn’t only Toronto’s burden to bear, it’s Brampton’s too.
Brampton has faced the battle of lack of representation at Peel Regional Council for years, and it’s an uphill battle that won’t soon be resolved, especially not under the Ford administration that’s favouring smaller municipal and regional governments.
Currently, Brampton has seven seats at Regional Council, Mississauga has 12 and Caledon has five seats.S
Since this proportion of seats was decided, Brampton has seen the vast majority of Peel Region’s growth, but representation at the regional council table fails to reflect this.
In the past Brampton’s regional councillors have fought for greater representation that matches the drastic increase in population in the city, but to no avail. Mississauga, which holds 50 per cent of the voting power on regional council, makes Brampton’s hopes of better representation a virtual pipe dream.
Broken down, Brampton’s seven councillors represent about 84,000 people each, Mississauga’s 12 councillors represent 63,000 constituents and Caledon’s five represent about 14,000 people.
Back in 2016 Brampton tried to increase representation by asking for all 11 of the city’s council members to sit at the regional council table instead of just half.
The past attempts have failed to garner support from Mississauga councillors, who appear unwilling to relinquish their voting power and council dominance.
Brampton’s particular sore spot has been with Caledon’s representation. Their four councillors represent just a small 14,000 constituents each. It’s been suggested in the past that Caledon relinquish some of their council seats to Brampton to even out the representation a bit.
Brampton’s attempts have remained unsuccessful for so long, the city has petitioned the Ontario government in the past to step in and implement legislation that would make things more equitable.
On the campaign trail back in 2017 former Premier Kathleen Wynne mentioned new legislation that could allow the Minister of Municipal Affairs to step in and make a change.
But with a turnover in government, this possibility seems less and less likely. Given Ford’s penchant for shrinking city and regional governments, any attempts for more equitable representation at the regional council for Brampton are likely futile for the time being.