Three of the main mayoral candidates in Mississauga are doing double duty on the debate stage Monday while the fourth high-profile hopeful won’t join them again for another 10 days.

Former mayor of Mississauga Bonnie Crombie and city councillors Alvin Tedjo and Dipika Damerla squared off this morning at the Mississauga Convention Centre in a debate that focused on housing.

Co-hosted by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board and Cornerstone Association of Realtors, the morning debate asked the candidates to share their respective visions for Mississauga and speak to issues including housing affordability and supply.

Crombie, Tedjo and Damerla will get together again Monday night at 7 p.m. for a debate at Mississauga City Hall. Tonight’s event is hosted by Policorner, an organization that reports on politics and related happenings at Queen’s Park.

Parrish will not take part in a fourth debate

Organizers said that event, which is open to the public, will bring together mayoral candidates “for a 90-minute debate on the future of the province’s fourth-largest city.”

Mayor Carolyn Parrish will not take part in Monday night’s debate, nor did she take the stage this morning at the Mississauga Convention Centre with her main rivals.

Parrish told INSAUGA Canada in late July she was going to take part in three debates in the run-up to the Oct. 26 election.

On Sept. 25, she said she’d confirmed her participation in the Mississauga Board of Trade debate on that afternoon, a debate co-hosted by Food Banks Mississauga and the Metamorphosis Network on Oct. 1 and an Oct. 15 event at Christ First United Church on Lakeshore Road West.

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4 main rivals square off again on Oct. 15

The Oct. 15 debate is organized by the Town of Port Credit Association, Lakeview Ratepayers Association, Port Credit Legion and Port Credit Community Foundation.

Crombie, Tedjo and Damerla are also confirmed to take part in that debate. They also participated in the Sept. 25 and Oct. 1 debates with Parrish.

Parrish’s decision to pass on tonight’s debate brought about criticism from her three main rivals last week.

When the four candidates met last Thursday night to debate at the Food Banks Mississauga warehouse, the event quickly became heated and was contentious throughout. In particular, Parrish and Crombie exchanged a number of verbal jabs.

Parrish and Crombie have battled before

The two political combatants have met previously in a municipal election battle. Parrish and Crombie went head-to-head in a competition for the Ward 5 council seat in Mississauga in a September 2011 byelection, won by Crombie (2,479 votes to 2,239 votes).

Parrish won a mayoral byelection in June 2024 to succeed Crombie after the latter left to become leader of the Ontario Liberals. Crombie had occupied the mayor’s seat from 2014 to early 2024.

Advance municipal election polls open on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The other 10 candidates for mayor of Mississauga are:

David Shaw — ran in both the 2024 mayoral byelection and 2022 municipal election for mayor. Registered to run May 1
Mike Matulewicz — ran in the 2024 mayoral byelection. Registered to run May 5
Amjad Jilani — registered to run July 14
Frank Fang — ran in the 2024 mayoral byelection and competed for the Ward 9 council seat in the 2022 municipal election. Registered to run July 15
Fadi Naami — registered to run July 20
Karam Ahmed — registered to run Aug. 20
Aamir Bhatti — registered to run Aug. 21
Gord Elliott — registered to run Aug. 21
Mohsin Khan — registered to run Aug. 18
Ana Luisa Vasquez De Espinal — registered to run Aug. 11

For more information on who’s running and the election in general, visit the city’s election page online.


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