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The 73-year-old former Mayor candidate is running with “absolute confidence.” He proposes adding 1,000 officers and wants a third hospital, a university and a subway. He has not detailed the cost of most of those proposals.
By Bramptonist Staff
Brampton | October 2, 2026
Four years ago, Vidya Sagar Gautam finished fifth in Brampton’s mayoral race with 1,398 votes, or 1.65 per cent.
Now, a Bramptonist online community poll places him second in the mayoral field, behind incumbent Patrick Brown.
The poll drew 5,700 responses. Brown received 76 per cent, or 4,332 responses. Gautam received 7 per cent, or 400. Jagruti Bhatt was third at 4.4 per cent. No other candidate received more than 2.5 per cent.
Brown’s lead over Gautam was 69 percentage points.
The poll is a snapshot of people who chose to participate online, rather than a scientific voter survey, and it should not be read as a prediction of the election.
In 2022, Brown won with 59.65 per cent. Gautam finished fifth at 1.65 per cent.
Gautam, 73, filed his nomination papers on May 1, before Brown filed his. Election day is Oct. 26.
He says he is running with “absolute confidence.”
Asked why voters should see him as a serious alternative to Brown, Gautam said he is running to become Brampton’s next mayor “with greater clarity and absolute confidence.”
At 73, he said he can “deliver better.”
He did not say he is the person to beat Brown. He is positioning himself as an alternative to the incumbent, and second place in the Bramptonist poll is a result he can point to in the final weeks of the campaign.
Big proposals, unanswered cost questions
Gautam’s first-100-day priorities are public safety, transit and service delivery, affordable housing, and Brampton’s economic future.
Across those areas, he has put forward several major proposals. In most cases, he has not provided detailed funding plans.
Public safety
Gautam wants stronger community policing and better lighting in public spaces and at transit stops.
He proposes adding 1,000 new officers over four years, with Brampton and Mississauga sharing the cost of 250 a year. He said those officers should be used for proactive policing and that the hiring should come with measurable results, including a reduction in crime.
“The moment a resident calls and says a car is being stolen from the driveway, I want the police to say that they are sending a squad,” he said. “If they simply say to deal with insurance, that is not the way. I would never accept that.”
“I will be a very hard taskmaster. I will demand results, nothing else.”
He did not provide a cost for the 1,000-officer plan or say how Brampton would cover its share.
He did not call for an independent audit of Peel Regional Police spending. He said some figures should stay off the public record because of organized crime.
Gautam did not identify which figures he believes should remain off the public record or who should make that determination.
He said he wants the Peel Police Service Board to press the chief on 911 wait times, response times, how new officers are deployed, and whether a resident reporting a vehicle theft receives an effective response.
He did not set specific numerical targets for those measures.
The plant and the next economy
Gautam called the outcome at the Brampton Assembly Plant a bad deal.
He said the city put a lot of money into the former Chrysler plant and cannot legally claim it back. He said business conditions were already difficult and that, with the tariff dispute, “we have lost everything.”
If Roshel moves ahead, Gautam estimates the site could create 250 to 300 jobs. He described that figure as his understanding. Roshel has not confirmed it.
“At least something is better than nothing,” he said.
He said Brampton cannot depend on one plant or only on the auto sector.
His economic pitch is high-tech employment and other local jobs, tied to mobility: a subway connection to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, more frequent buses, and new development that includes health-care facilities, community centres and parks.
He pointed to a colleague’s trip from Mount Pleasant to the airport: about 45 minutes on GO Transit and the UP Express, or one and a half to two hours on two local buses.
The comparison is route-dependent and anecdotal, and does not establish typical travel times for Brampton residents.
A big infrastructure agenda
Asked what he would keep from Brown’s $9.4-billion Big Brampton Build, Gautam did not name a project.
His list instead:
A third full-fledged hospital, with a provincial commitment even if it takes time.
A full-fledged university. He would end repeated spending on studies and consultants. The institution should pay. The city’s role should be capped at roughly $10 million to $20 million, or land.
A subway from downtown Brampton to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, with a firm provincial commitment and funding phased over several years.
More frequent buses.
About $20 billion in infrastructure over 10 to 15 years.
He said he has asked the province for that $20-billion amount, and that about $12 billion has been discussed for upcoming projects.
He did not name a tax rate, a fare change, or a Big Brampton Build project he would cancel.
The university proposal is the only specific municipal dollar limit he put on the record.
He did not provide details on how the city would fund its share of the proposed infrastructure, if any, or how the $20-billion figure would be divided among projects and levels of government.
He also did not say what he would do if the province declined to commit to the hospital or subway proposals.
From fifth to second — in a poll
For Gautam, the second-place result gives his campaign a number to point to as the Oct. 26 election approaches.
Brampton voters decide on Oct. 26.