Fresh and enthusiastic over the election of Patrick Brown as Mayor of Brampton, and excited by the professional and thoughtful introductions and the forward looking direction made in his opening remarks at the inauguration, Bramptonians had every right to enthuse over the election results. We welcomed those Councillors returning to Council, and applauded the newcomers, anxious to see them join a team of Council that would work together with the new Mayor and follow his path into the future for our fast growing City.
But what did we see? On the very next day at Committee of Council, we saw, unfortunately, a return to the fractiousness of the previous Council, with a pre-mediated assault on the new Mayor’s programme and the Future Ready 2040 Vision already enthusiastically accepted by the citizens of Brampton. Led by Councillors Dhillon and Medeiros, reflecting the views of the previous Mayor – views on which she was defeated, put forward a motion to resurrect the twice defeated costly surface LRT north of Steeles, through narrow Main Street already clogged with traffic, to the Transportation Hub.
What a great example of looking backward! Rather than put Brampton on a new and exciting path forward, the Councillors rejected any requested time deferral by the Mayor, and unanimously approved the motion and stopped any further work on the EA’s for Kennedy and McLaughlin routes that would arrive at the same Transportation Hub, and support the Future Ready 2040 Vision approved earlier this year.
This motion was not hastily drawn up, and reflected the thinking of yesteryear politicians throwing the gauntlet down on the new Mayor, depriving him of any chance to lead and build consensus. How sad.
Brampton deserves not division but teamwork on Council if it is to move ahead and receive the billions of taxpayer monies from all levels of government needed to update and improve its infrastructure and get its fair share.
To blindside the new Mayor at his first meeting of Council, was shameful, and does not bode well for our future. Let’s get away from thinking in terms of bloc voting, and back to independent thought of what’s best for our City. That’s what the community wants. Please don’t disappoint!
Doug Bryden and Chris Bejnar, CFBB – Co-Chairs
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