Could Mississauga be next in line for a 'new deal'?

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."

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.

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?"