Mayor Patrick Brown Releases Statement Regarding Peel Region Funding Cuts

Published May 10, 2019 at 8:02 am

Mayor Patrick Brown has released a statement on the recent cutbacks to the Peel Regions funding.

Mayor Patrick Brown has released a statement on the recent cutbacks to the Peel Regions funding.

The recent cuts to the region’s funding were presented yesterday to the council. Funding sections that were cut included:

  • Early years/childcare programs by $6.1M

  • Housing and homeless programs by $1.3M

  • Prisoner Transport by $600,000

  • Natural Hazards Funding by $700,000

  • Metrolinx Funding for Smart Commute by $300,000

These are very important sectors for the region and funding cuts may have some negative impacts going forward.

Mayor Brown said in a written statement that the presentation of these cuts was “shocking”.

“The provincial cuts mean municipalities have an impossible choice,” wrote Mayor Brown. “Do we pass on a record tax increase to homeowners to make up for provincial cuts or do we cancel essential services like Peel Regional Police’s prisoner transport, child care or combating homelessness?”

Mayor Brown was quite reasonably not happy with the position the cuts are putting the region in. In his statement, he highlighted an example of one of the challenges the region may face going forward.

“A great example is the provincial cut to the Peel Regional Police prisoner transport,” wrote Mayor Brown. “If we passed on the cut to the police then that means for a month, we would not transfer prisoners from the jail to the court or from the court to the correctional facility. It would essentially mean cases would be thrown out and criminals would get off. Someone down at Queens Park needs to give their head a shake. This is ridiculous.”

The next step in planning for the 2020 budget is the impacts of the Provincial budget on service outcomes including risks to services and service levels.

What do you think of the recent cuts to the region’s budget?

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