CROMBIE: An affordable city starts with better choices

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Making Mississauga more affordable requires a mayor prepared to make difficult choices and lead. Which spending should stop? Which services must be protected? Which investments will leave residents better off?

Those questions matter more than the number of promises in a platform. A mayor cannot say yes to everything and expect taxpayers to absorb the difference.

Hazel McCallion understood that. She taught me to respect public money because every dollar belongs to someone who worked for it. She also understood that a city cannot prosper by standing still. Attracting employers, building infrastructure and managing growth are part of protecting taxpayers.

That is the approach I brought to the mayor’s office. It is why I am seeking a mandate to lead again.

During my tenure, annual city taxes averaged just 1.7%. That is precisely 0.1% higher than Rob Ford averaged in his term when “respect for taxpayers” was admirably his mantra. That also reflected choices: encouraging investment, weighing spending against what residents could afford and remembering that good intentions do not excuse an unaffordable bill.

Carolyn Parrish has made different choices. City taxes have risen approximately 15% in just two years, yet she champions a $2.5-billion redevelopment of the Living Arts Centre and surrounding lands. Families are making difficult decisions around their kitchen tables while she promotes a vanity project. Why is rebuilding our civic precinct a priority?

She also resigned in a huff from the Peel Police Services Board while residents worry about auto theft, home invasions and extortion. A mayor’s priorities are revealed by the projects she pursues and the responsibilities she accepts. On both counts, Mississauga deserves better.

Alvin Tedjo promises a “radical moment” and policy “wonkiness,” but that “radicalism” and his actual choices deserve scrutiny. He routinely voted for more spending on council; now he promises to seemingly “freeze” taxes. How? He’s promised so much new spending, with even more announcements as recently as Friday. What would he cut, postpone or ask someone else to pay to afford his promises?

His separate seniors’ tax “freeze” in fact allows tax increases to accumulate, with interest, until a home is sold or transferred. That postpones the bill and adds debt to households. Having run for mayor twice before completing his first council term, he has demonstrated ambition for the job. He has yet to demonstrate the judgement to reconcile his conflicting promises. Mississauga cannot afford on-the-job training, especially now.

Clear alternative

My full platform, released Oct. 8, offers a clear alternative: discipline about what government spends and ambition about what our city can become.

I would stop the Living Arts Centre redevelopment proposal, preserve its existing community role and review City spending line by line. An independent Auditor General would help identify waste and improve accountability. My goal is to keep City tax increases at or below inflation while protecting frontline services.

For eligible low-income seniors, I would increase the annual property tax rebate to $1,000. This is help they will not have to repay.

But controlling the tax bill is only part of making life affordable. Congestion costs residents time and money. Inadequate transit limits access to employment. Housing shortages push families farther from work.

That is why extending the subway to Mississauga City Centre belongs in a serious economic plan. Connecting homes, jobs and businesses makes our city more productive and creates opportunities for growth.

A subway requires a credible business case, route assessment and funding partnerships. I would begin that work immediately. No responsible mayor could promise to deliver it alone. No forward-looking mayor should dismiss it because construction would extend beyond one term.

We must also improve travel now through coordinated construction, synchronized signals, better bus connections and a public schedule for opening the Hazel McCallion light rail line.

These choices reinforce each other. Better transportation attracts employers. Faster approvals help deliver housing and investment. A growing economy strengthens the tax base supporting services. Effective policing protects the neighbourhoods where people build their lives. I would return to the police board because public safety must be a mayor’s priority.

Experience matters because these decisions are connected. I know how to negotiate with governments, attract investment and bring council to a decision. Choosing priorities means accepting responsibility for the tradeoffs, including when saying no is politically difficult.

Having held this office gives me no entitlement to it. I am working to earn your trust.

I have faced setbacks, learnt from them and kept going. I am running because the work matters: helping people afford a life here while building a city their children can see a future in.

That requires a mayor who knows when to say no, where to invest and how to deliver.

I am asking for a strong mandate to make those choices — not to simply have my old job back, but to do the tough job before us.

– Bonnie Crombie was the three-term Mayor of Mississauga, a businesswoman, former MP and provincial party leader.

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