Peel Region municipal elections, 2018, were part of the larger Ontario municipal elections, that took place on Monday, October 22.
After ballots were cast, Patrick Brown was elected as the mayor of Brampton, Bonnie Crombie re-elected as the mayor of Mississauga and Allan Thompson re-elected as the mayor of Caledon.
The election was intended to be the first ever direct election of the Peel Regional chair. However, the election of this position was cancelled after the Doug Ford government introduced The Better Local Government Act, 2018 (Bill 5) in August 2018.
Open races
Jim Tovey, Mississauga councillor for Ward 1, died suddenly in January 2018. Tovey was in the midst of planning for massive waterfront redevelopment.
In February 2018, Brampton councillor Chris Gibson announced his retirement in Wards 1 & 5. Officially a city councillor, he had been given the city's additional Regional seat for multiple terms. Regional councillor Elaine Moore, from the same wards, announced her retirement in late March.
Gael Miles retirement was made public the evening before the start of registration. Caledon's Doug Beffort retired.
Peel Region chair
Original nomination process
In 2016, the provincial Liberal government announced voters in the 2018 election would elect regional chairs. Across the province, the selection of regional chairs varies, with some regional councils electing chairs while other chairs being selected by councillors. Peel Region traditionally appointed the regional chair from existing councillors.
In early 2018, the candidates for the position of regional chair began to be nominated.
Starting the year "85% sure" he would run, Ron Starr officially announced his intention to run for Regional Chair in late March 2018. Later, after the cancellation of the position, Starr withdrew to run for re-election in Ward 6.
Rumours that were circulating of Patrick Brown running for Regional chair were neither confirmed or denied, when asked by Metroland in May 2018. Brown was accused of sexual misconduct in January, which he denies, forcing his resignation as Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader. He moved to Mississauga after being removed from the party caucus. He did not run for re-election as a Barrie MPP in the June provincial election. Patrick Brown also withdrew from the race.
Mississauga councillor Nando Iannicca enrolled in July.
Bob Delaney, former MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville, registered in July. Charles Sousa and Harinder Takhar, also former MPPs, agreed to not run, in an effort to not split the vote.
Registered candidates included: Amir S. Ali, Brampton Parveen Dalal, Mississauga Bob Delaney, Mississauga Vitya Sagar Gautam, Brampton Marcin Huniewicz, Brampton Nando Iannicca, Mississauga Masood Khan, Brampton Ken Looy, Brampton Gurpreet Pabla, Brampton
A shift in Ontario's government after the provincial elections, saw Doug Ford announce the cancellation of the voter elected position of regional chair in Peel.
While this prompted Brown to pull his Chair nomination, to run for Mayor of Brampton, Delaney continued his campaign, noting that the law had yet to pass.
Incumbent Frank Dale has indicated he may change his mind on retirement, according to The Mississauga News.
Appointment process
TVO journalist Steve Paikin has heard suggestion of the following candidates:
Nando Iannicca Linda Jeffrey Gael Miles Elaine Moore Charles Sousa
Former Caledon Regional councillor Barb Shaughnessy, who had run for Mayor of Caledon, indicated that she would not be pursuing the position.
Brampton
Brampton had 313,273 eligible voters during the 2018 election. A total of 169 voting locations were open across the city.
Mayor
In October 2017, incumbent Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey announced her intent to run for a second term.
Real estate lawyer Wesley Jackson was noted in a February 2018 Peel Daily News article as "hoping to become Brampton's next mayor."Marco Patrone, "Brampton residents okay with paying higher property taxes, says mayoralty candidate", Peel Daily News, 21 February 2018, page 6.
In July, John Sprovieri announced his intention to run for Mayor of Brampton. Omar Mansoury withdrew.
On Election Day on October 22, Patrick Brown was declared the winner.
Mayoral Candidate Vote %Patrick Brown 46,89444.43 Linda Jeffrey (X) 42,993 40.73 Baljit Gosal 5,319 5.04 John Sprovieri 5,0284.76 Wesley Jackson 2,442 2.31 Vinod Kumar Mahesan 1,9051.80 Mansoor Ameersulthan 9720.92
Debates
Brampton Board of Trade is hosting debates of city council candidates throughout the day on September 17, 2018, through live stream, concluding with a Mayoral debate. Brown, Gosal, Jackson, Jeffrey, and Sprovieri were invited to the event. Questions were pre-selected from membership. According to the Guardian, the majority of the event saw "Brown and Sprovieri focusing much of their attention on Jeffrey's record and vice versa."Graeme Frisque, "Linda Jeffrey and Patrick Brown trade accusations in first Brampton mayoral debate", The Brampton Guardian, 18 September 2018.
The first Mayoral debate to allow physical attendance will be held September 20, 2018, at Sheridan College, Davis Campus, through The Pointer, an online news outlet for Brampton.
Brampton Focus hosted a debate on September 25 at the Rose Theatre Brampton, inviting Jeffrey, Brown, Gosal, and Sprovieri. Media reports suggest that the debate was often drowned out by cheering and jeering.
A debate was held by the Brampton Real Estate Board on October 4. All candidates were in attendance.
Prime Asia TV Canada hosted a debate on October 18.
Endorsements
Patrick Brown
Bill Davis, former Premier of Ontario Garnett Manning, former Brampton City Councillor Victor Oh, Canadian Senator
Linda Jeffrey
Richard Ciano, former Ontario PC Party president Michael Diamond, Doug Ford's campaign manager Ken Zeise, former Ontario PC Party president MPPs Prabmeet Sarkaria, Gurratan Singh, Sara Singh, and Kevin Yarde MPs Ruby Sahota and Sonia Sidhu
Jeffrey held a fundraiser at the Albany Club of Toronto, a venue associated with the Conservative Party.
Polling Forum Research, released October 19, 2018 40% 40% 7% 14% Linda Jeffrey Patrick Brown John Sprovieri Other
Incumbent Linda Jeffrey and candidate Patrick Brown both polled at 40%, John Sprovieri polled at 7%, Wesley Jackson at 5%, Bal Gosal at 4%, Vinod Kumar Mahesan at 4%, and Mansoor Ameersulthan at 1%.
Mainstreet Research, taken October 19, 2018 43.9% 39.3% 6.6%4.6% Patrick Brown Linda Jeffrey John Sprovieri Bal Gosal
Mainstreet's numbers were based on decided voters; 5.6% of voters were voting for other candidates. The complete survey found 17.4% of all voters were undecided.
Regional council
Ward 1 & 5
Moffat, Rai, Russo, and Vicente attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Of the candidates, only McClelland has held political office, as a Liberal MPP. He surrendered his law license in 2015, after allegations of professional misconduct.
Russo is a citizen member of the city's Committee of Adjustment, serving as its chair.
Regional Councillor Wards 1 & 5 Vote % Paul Vicente 7,59343.66 Mario Russo 5,514 31.71Carman McClelland1,3117.54 Rajbir Kaur 1,1986.89 Harnek Rai 1,178 6.77 Charles Moffatt 596 3.43
Ward 2 & 6
Bains, Campbell, Jones, and Palleschi attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Ward 2 & 6 Candidate Vote % Michael Palleschi (X) 7,34035.55 Gurpreet Kaur Bains 5,97128.92 Everton Dwight Campbell 2,72613.20 Allan Jones 2,035 9.86 Raghav Patel 895 4.34 Shannon Iyer 743 3.60 Lateef Khaliq 644 3.12 Nisha Luthra 2911.41
Ward 3 & 4
Martin Medeiros won the wards over Shan Gill in 2014, by 100 votes. Incumbent Martin Medeiros lived in Mississauga in 2014, but began a move to Brampton, allowing him to run in the election. Resident Peter Bailey filed a legal proceeding to try and remove Medeiros from office, but was unsuccessful. The action was in advance of a vote on the then-Hurontario Main Light Rail Transit project, which Medeiros wanted and Bailey did not.
Former incumbent John Sanderson is a nominee for 2018; he ran for Mayor of Brampton in 2014, finishing second. Sanderson has noted that the 2018 campaign is the "dirtiest" he's experienced, blaming Medeiros for the tone."Brampton sign war the "dirtiest campaign I've seen," says council challenger", Peel Daily News, 17 October 2018, page 5.
Grewal, Kus, Medeiros, and Sanderson attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Ward 3 & 4 Candidate Vote % Martin Medeiros (X) 7,551 38.83 John Sanderson 6,175 31.75 Prabhjot Grewal 4,05920.87 Chirag Patel 1,336 6.87 Joseph Kus 326 1.68
Ward 7 & 8
Pat Fortini is the incumbent for the wards.
Cody Vatcher has been critical of Mayor Jeffrey, suggesting that she "simply never learned to graciously accept defeat," when her votes were defeated. He also campaigned on standing up to an incumbent who hasn't “stood up for our fair share” and “rolled out the red carpet” for certain health care announcements.
Bruce Marshall has the endorsement of retiring incumbent Gael Miles.Bruce Marshall, "Let's return some civic pride to the city", Peel Daily News, 1 August 2018, page 13.
All of the candidates attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Ward 7 & 8 Candidate Vote % Pat Fortini (X) 10,29952.65 Bruce Marshall 4,469 22.85 Ajay Tandon 3,714 18.99Cody Vatcher 1,078 5.51
Ward 9 & 10
All three candidates attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Ward 7 & 8 Candidate Vote % Gurpreet Singh Dhillon 14,33055.46 Michelle Shaw 6,272 24.27 Vicky Dhillon 5,238 20.27
Amratlal Mistry withdrew from the race.
City council
Ward 1 & 5 Sanjeev Bansal Princess Boucher Abdul Qayyum Chaudhry Imtiaz Haider Harmanpreet Mankoo Karanjit Singh Pandher Don Patel Joe Pimentel Daryl Romeo Rowena Santos Josephine Tatangelo
Boucher, Pimentel, Santos, and Tatangelo attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Pimentel spent 30 years as a City of Brampton employee.
Candidate Vote % Rowena Santos 7,160 41.34 Joe Pimentel 2,647 15.28 Don Patel 1,883 10.87 Daryl Romeo 1,111 6.41 Princess Boucher 856 4.94 Josephine Tatangelo 856 4.94 Abdul Qayyum Chaudhry 843 4.87 Karanjit Singh Pandher 814 4.70 Sanjeev Bansal 586 3.38 Imtiaz Haider 290 1.67 Harmanpreet Mankoo 274 1.58
Ward 2 & 6 Jermaine Chambers Ojie F. Eghobor Paul Mann Jim McDowell Lisa Pearce M. Joseph Shaji Joe Sidhu Anwar Warsi Doug Whillans, incumbent
Gurpreet Kaur Bains has withdrawn.
Chambers, Mann, and Pearce attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate. Whillans, chair of a hospital fundraiser golf tournament, was unable to attend. The tournament was scheduled in March.
Candidate Vote % Doug Whillans (X) 5,968 28.99 Jermaine Chambers 3,238 15.73 Jim McDowell 2,859 13.89 Joe Sidhu 2,319 11.27 Paul Mann 1,886 9.16 Lisa Pearce 1,868 9.07 M. Joseph Shaji 906 4.40 Anwar Warsi 797 3.87 Ojie F. Eghobor 744 3.61
Ward 3 & 4 Jeff Bowman, incumbent Parin Choksi Harpreet Singh Hansra Omar Mansoury Ryan Rennie Nishi Sidhu Tanveer Singh
Hansra and Rennie attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate. Incumbent Bowman was unable to attend, due to the debate being scheduled against a hospital fundraising golf tournament, of which he is vice-chair, and had been scheduled since March. Candidate Nishi Sidhu also cited a "previous engagement", and Omar Mansoury accepted the invitation but did not attend.Graeme Frisque, "Only two candidates vying for Brampton city council seat in wards 3 and 4 show up for debate", The Brampton Guardian, 18 September 2018.
Bowman has taken time off work at City Hall to campaign, noting that other incumbents continued to collect a wage during their campaigning."Campaigning on public dime 'disrespectful of taxpayers,' says Brampton councillor", Peel Daily News, 17 October 2018, page 3.