To the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore: Thank you for your presentation.

I mentioned that in 1998, then-Premier Mike Harris forced six municipalities and the city of Toronto—which included Scarborough, York, Etobicoke, East York and North York—into an amalgamated city. This city is now three million people in size, with almost $400 billion of GDP. When I compare that to what Mississauga is—it’s about 800,000 people, I believe, by 2019 numbers, and about $97 billion in GDP. I also recognize that we were not necessarily consulted, and neither were any of those five other municipalities, when the amalgamation happened.

Because dissolution was not sought by Brampton or Caledon, how can your government ensure that this dissolution will benefit all three local municipalities?

And so is Caledon.

Questions, please?

I want to thank my colleague for his thoughtful comments on this important legislation.

Coming from the municipal sector, I certainly know that, as communities grow and morph, governance changes are also required to evolve and grow with the municipalities.

As you indicated, when Minister Clark made the announcement, we had the three individual mayors, as well as the regional chair.

The conversation about making Peel region separate single-tier municipalities has been ongoing for a long time. I’m wondering if you could speak to why we chose Peel region first and what that might mean for successive regional examinations.