Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Four Mississauga mayoral candidates faced off in the first election debate of the campaign on Friday.
Presented in partnership by the Mississauga Board of Trade and CBC News, the debate was hosted by CBC Peel’s Nav Nanwa at Sheridan College’s Hazel McCallion Campus.
Polling last month placed Mayor Carolyn Parrish and former mayor Bonnie Crombie neck and neck with 35 per cent support among decided voters. The Liaison Strategies poll suggested Coun. Dipika Damerla would receive 13 per cent of the vote, and Coun. Alvin Tedjo would get nine per cent.
With just over a month left until election night, the candidates didn’t hesitate to fire at each other’s platforms.
Here are the top three moments from the debate.
WATCH | Highlights from the Mississauga mayoral debate:
The Mississauga mayoral debate in 3 minutes
Mississauga’s four leading mayoral candidates went head to head in the first mayoral debate ahead of October’s municipal election. Check out the highlights.1. Crombie, Tedjo go after Parrish’s resignation from police board
The four candidates agreed that the current regional funding formula for policing means Mississauga is investing more than what it gets in return.
Earlier this year, Parrish said the city is spending more money on regional policing than Brampton and Caledon, despite Brampton having a larger population, and threatened to create Mississauga’s own police force if the funding formula doesn’t change.
It’s not the first time Parrish has spoken out against police funding. She resigned from the Peel Police Service Board two years ago after opposing a large increase to its budget.
But at Friday’s debate, Crombie and Tedjo argued that the mayor of Mississauga should be at the police board advocating for the city and a more equal funding formula.
Four Mississauga mayoral candidates faced off in the first election debate of the campaign on Friday at Sheridan College’s Hazel McCallion Campus. From left to right: CBC Peel host Nav Nanwa, Carolyn Parrish, Bonnie Crombie, Deepika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo, (Tony Fera/CBC)
“That’s your job. It’s your responsibility to fight for Mississauga, for negotiation, to go for Mississauga and make sure that the right resources and the right budget are passed at the police board,” Tedjo said.
Crombie had a similar message for Parrish.
“You have abdicated not only the police board, but your duties, your fiduciary duty as mayor,” Crombie said.
Parrish said the police board is an arms-length institution and she can’t criticize the board while serving on it.
2. No clear path on data centres after moratorium
Also at issue Friday: data centres.
City council recently agreed to put a moratorium on the development of data centres to give time for public consultation and to explore guardrails as public concerns grew.
Parrish called the moratorium a response to public reaction and said data centres need to exist in Mississauga to attract major companies.
She added that the city needs to proceed carefully and slowly to establish data centres in a safe and comfortable way.
Mayor Carolyn Parrish says data centres will attract companies like Astrazeneca to Mississauga and create room for other growing industries. (Tony Fera/CBC)
Tedjo raised concerns over granting limited, developable lands to American companies, while Crombie said the city needs to reconsider if it’s the best use of the land.
None of the candidates offered an alternative solution or said they would outright ban datacentres.
3. Damerla slams Tedjo for record on police funding vote
The two city councillors running for mayor got to square up against each other as well.
Tedjo took the opportunity early on in the debate to flex his recent historic endorsement from the Peel Regional Police Association.
He said the police union endorsed him because it understands his plan to keep the community safe, which includes plans for more mental health professionals and crisis workers responding to calls.
But Damerla took aim at Tedjo’s track record of supporting police budget increases. She specifically pointed to 2025, when Tedjo was one of three Mississauga city councillors on Peel Region council to vote for a 23.3 per cent police budget increase, the largest in the region’s history.
Alvin Tedjo flexed his historic mayoral-endorsement from the Peel Regional Police Association. (Tony Fera/CBC)
“Alvin did not even try and fight for a fairer police budget. You talk about [how] you’re going to stand up for residents, ‘Oh, taxes have gone up 30 per cent,'” Damerla challenged.
Tedjo pointed out he initially supported a motion to revise the budget increase.
“We all wanted to make sure that what was being proposed was fair. We wanted them to reconsider it. I also voted to send it back,” Tedjo said.
The mayoral candidates are set to meet again Thursday for the next mayoral debate presented by Food Banks Mississauga and Metamorphosis Network, a group of non-profit organizations.