Mississauga should look at leaving Peel, Mayor Bonnie Crombie says

Twelve years after former Mississauga mayorHazel McCallioncampaigned to takeher city out ofPeel Region, her successor is trying to resurrectthe issue.

Not long afterMississaugacitycouncil voted Wednesday to undertake a study to determine if the cityshould leave Peel, Mayor Bonnie Crombietold CBC News the time is right.

"We're Ontario's third largest city, we're Canada's sixth largest city and we think it's timeMississaugacontrol its own destiny and make decisions that are in the best interest of our residents,"Crombietold CBC's Here And Now.

"There's a lot of duplication of staffwhether it's in transit, public works or in planning," she added. "The last time this study was undertaken was about 12 years ago and it looked like about $31 million in accrued savings should we be a single-tier municipality."

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Crombie, who took office two years ago, told host Gill Deacon thatanother independent study should be carried out "to look at all those numbers once again."

"We are a distinct city, we have our own identity and this is an opportunity for us to go our own way and control our own destiny," she said. "We want the empirical evidence to really confirm that there are savings and that there will be benefits."

Right now, Peel Region includes the cities ofMississauga and Brampton, as well as the town of Caledon, and has anestimated population of 1.4 million people.

CBC News reached out Wednesday evening toBrampton Mayor Linda Jeffery, but she refused to comment on Crombie's remarks.

"Our voters aren't getting good value because they're under-represented at the region of Peel," she said. "We provide about two-thirds of the tax levy at the region of Peel and we still have only 15 per cent of the vote.

"There are some inequities that have to be addressed and we just think it's time," Crombie said.

In an interview with CBC News in 2004, McCallionsaid areport prepared by chartered accountants found that her city was paying $19 million to cover services in Brampton and another $6 million for services in Caledon.

"Property tax was never intended to be collected to subsidize the property taxpayers of another municipality," McCallion said at the time. "It was always intended to service the people within the boundaries of that municipality."