What is your position on data centre development in Mississauga? How will you weigh potential economic benefits against electricity and water consumption, environmental impacts and the needs of surrounding communities?<\/p>\n
CROMBIE: So, let\u2019s talk about the good and the bad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company is suggesting that this is pro-economic development. Not really. Because when you have a property the size of four football fields, you expect more high quality long-term jobs. The jobs in building the data centre are really in construction, because let\u2019s be honest, there might be a handful of people that will work there because it\u2019s a data centre, right? Maybe a dozen at best versus other uses. So, I worry that it\u2019s not the best and highest use for the land for economic development reasons either.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, we\u2019re not anti- AI data centres. We have nine or 10 of them right now. It\u2019s just the scale of this one and the proximity to the residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are also significant downsides that we\u2019ve learned about from the experience in the US: it\u2019s tax on the electrical grid \u2014 do we even have the capacity? Then, they would certainly have to pay their fair share. And then there\u2019s the use of water. We are now moving into putting wastewater into a public utility run by an outside board according to the premier. Will they have the ability to evaluate the needs of this thing and be able to service the water needs? And then, there\u2019s the question of noise. It\u2019s a different kind of noise than traffic congestion or the buzz of the 401. It\u2019s a higher pitch. Could it be irritating? Could there be environmental damage? Could there be environmental spills? There are all these downsides that we just don\u2019t know enough about it.<\/p>\n
And then the last one, I\u2019ll alert you to, what if it\u2019s a US data company? Do we want a US company holding our data? I think they did the right thing by putting the interim control bylaw, but the more I think about it, frankly, it shouldn\u2019t move forward.<\/p>\n
The province at some point has to step in and say, look, it\u2019s not appropriate to put those things [that are] hyperscaled. Not every municipality should have to deal with this each and every time and debate it.<\/p>\n
So too many questions, too many unknowns, too many unresolved issues. But I think certainly the province should come in.<\/p>\n
PARRISH: Yeah, we have nine and people aren\u2019t even aware of them. They couldn\u2019t tell you on a map where they are.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We did stop a big prologus project that was going on, because there was a big cry. If I can be really honest with you, I think it was a pre-election thing. Everybody was running in little circles and trying to find issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went to a company last week, toured it. It builds the components for data centres. It was fascinating and the gentleman there said to me data centres are the brain of a country, do you want our data centres in the United States? Of course, your first reaction is no way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My husband thought he was having a heart attack a couple weeks ago. I was out on the road somewhere. My daughter took him to Emerge and they did a whole bunch of tests and he got the results on his phone before the doctor came in to talk to him. That\u2019s what you have data centres for.\u00a0 It\u2019s a valuable tool. It\u2019s something that we need to have control over here in our own city, in our own country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We asked our staff to do a full study, talk to the experts, talk to the people who are concerned about hydro, talk about coolants, talk about all this stuff and come back with a really thorough report and a recommendation: should we allow them or should we not allow them? If we do allow them, should they have certain restrictions on them? They were working along quite nicely. It was supposed to be coming out in January, but now of course the temperature\u2019s gone up \u2014\u00a0literally \u2014\u00a0and everybody\u2019s very worried about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If they come back and say, \u201cNope, these are the parameters. These are the regulations. You no longer just had to get a building permit. You have to get interior permits and you have to have regulations,\u201d I would support it, because it is the brain of our city and of our country and we want to have our data here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I would be very pleased, because right now we\u2019re in limbo. We lost one big contract \u2014 as soon as that interim control bylaw was passed, they moved up to Brampton. It\u2019s a huge loss to us, because it was a pharmaceutical company that was experimenting on new drugs and they wanted half the premises to be data just for them speeding their stuff through.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so funny because I didn\u2019t go to the public meeting that turned into a brawl, but my\u00a0 chief of staff was there and everybody in the room was taking pictures with their cell phones and he said he wanted to get up and say, \u201cWhere do you think that data is going and how do you think that\u2019s being processed?\u201d But it was just unfortunate. But I think we may come up with a better system now that we\u2019ve done a thorough investigation, which we were doing anyway.<\/p>\n
What is your vision for Ridgeway Plaza, and how will you balance public safety and the concerns of nearby residents with its cultural significance and the needs of small businesses?<\/p>\n
CROMBIE: I was there today. I was at Jabal. I had shawarma, too. I\u2019ve been at Ridgeway a couple times this week, actually. I love the plaza. I love the concept. I love that people love to gather there and it\u2019s very cultural, so you can eat your way across every restaurant. They have everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The problem was that the mall wasn\u2019t really designed for that and and the flaw is that as services closed \u2014 like the local hair salon and doctor\u2019s office \u2014 restaurants went in, and there really is not sufficient parking for the number of restaurants that exist. And listen, I\u2019m not going to bring the city into the parking lot business because it\u2019s not inexpensive. It\u2019s very costly. But there are companies that do that in parks: precise parking. I think a portion of that mall could be a walking mall. But we need to open up more parking. That\u2019s really the bottom line.<\/p>\n
I know that the council has put a sort of an interim control bylaw on there being any more new restaurants. And there are lots of ideas on how to protect them all because first of all, these are job creators. These are entrepreneurs who have opened businesses. They\u2019re working very hard and they\u2019re employing our youth by the way, right? I asked them, they have a loose business council or loose business association now. I said, \u201cI want you to count up the number of businesses and I want you to count the number of people you employ. I want to give a rough number of the taxes that you contribute to the city from Ridgeway Plaza, because I want to have some statistics on the good that this plaza does for the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not to forget to mention that it\u2019s kind of a tourist destination now, because everybody knows Ridgeway Plaza. If you\u2019re in the UK or in the US, everybody knows Ridgeway. They\u2019re even copying it in the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it does have a dark side. Okay, let\u2019s be honest. There have been some incidents late at night.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s street racing and drag racing. There has been an increase in break and enters in the area, increased criminal activity, so it\u2019s not all good.<\/p>\n
Some of the restaurants are open 24 hours and it\u2019s very cultural and people do gather there. It\u2019s an opportunity for those communities to come together to celebrate and that\u2019s good, but there have been clashes too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suddenly, you had opposing sides clashing and that got concerning and there were a few altercations and I know that this mayor, she banned activity on both India and Pakistan Independence Day at the mall. That was really devastating for the business owners, because they weren\u2019t giving any warning. And let me be honest, on big days like that you\u2019re going to stock up, you\u2019re going to have fresh food that\u2019s going to go bad, because you\u2019re expecting lots of customers.<\/p>\n
But look, I\u2019m both proud of it and it scares me at the same time, because I know the feedback from the residents. It\u2019s tough to live in that area now, because there\u2019s so many people coming in and out, people circling looking for spaces late at night, street racing \u2014 we\u2019re all very aware of this and the police are too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But at the same time, I\u2019m proud of them. I respect the business owners. They\u2019re working so hard and they need to have a business association or BIA there too for pooling resources to help beautify the mall and maybe get a fountain in the middle and put some baskets up in gathering places.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PARRISH: Well, let\u2019s start with cultural significance.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been to the Middle East five times. I\u2019ve been all through and in the evenings, all you hear in the little villages is voices and people having coffee and sitting there and chatting and being outside. That\u2019s the culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Also, if you fly around particularly Chicago and New York, you see ads for Ridgeway. So it\u2019s an attraction. So we need to keep it as an attraction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a lot of difficulty particularly with young drivers, teenage kids zooming around in cars and screeching around in tires and all the rest of it. And we\u2019ve had quite a few accidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So they did put an interim control bylaw on it for a year to stop any new restaurants from opening. They\u2019ve got 110 restaurants in there. So, if somebody decides they want to get out of that restaurant, you can put a restaurant in that space, but you can\u2019t expand into the other stores until we get a little bit more control over it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, they\u2019ve got a full security company that does their security. They have speed bumps. They have gates that go down when the parking lots are full. But what we really need there is behind Ridgeway, between that and the new mosque that\u2019s going in, there\u2019s a big vacant field that\u2019s owned by a hotel operator. We should expropriate that land and put paid city parking there, stacked like four stories to get the cars out of the Ridgeway. It would take a year. It\u2019ll pay for itself in five years and we wouldn\u2019t charge an arm and a leg for the parking, but something reasonable and a check in or check out like they do when you shop in Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, we can put more picnic tables and more seating and more outdoor stuff, because in the good weather, it\u2019s a beautiful location and everybody knows the food there is incredible and you could probably eat your way through the whole place.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s something we should be cherishing, not giving them a hard time.<\/p>\n
What is one measurable commitment you will deliver in your first year in office, and how will residents be able to hold you accountable?<\/p>\n
CROMBIE: So, first of all, our tax rates have skyrocketed in Mississauga. It\u2019s one of the reasons it drove me to run for re-election as mayor, because I was leader for a brief time and I had some interesting private sector opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But in speaking to community members \u2014 because I\u2019m out often, whether I\u2019m at the grocery store or Shoppers Drug Mart or even in a local pub listening to some music \u2014 people are just talking about the tax.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened my own tax bill and almost had a quarter, like 10% a year \u2014it\u2019s just unsustainable. And we had never had a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. I\u2019ve delivered nine budgets at an average increase in the city at 1.7% and when you combine with the region at 3.4%, taxes last year increased at 10%.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year increased at 10% as well. However, they took $33 million out of a reserve fund to pay down the tax bill, so that the increase was only 5.5%. Like that\u2019s not sustainable to take money out of reserves or they won\u2019t be there when you need them for whatever the reserve is for. It could be for paving roads or or storm water maintenance. Like it\u2019s not there anymore. $33 million is gone. And people who are offering tax freezes, is that at 5.5%? No. You know, if they\u2019re offering you a deferral on your tax increase. Okay, great. Are you giving seniors a deferral?<\/p>\n
How are you going to make up that revenue? I\u2019d like to know. Number one, these aren\u2019t people with any financial skills who are offering these incentive programs, because it\u2019s a bit of a senior scam. Then, the money goes into an account in the city and we put compounded interest on it every year. So, now you\u2019re paying interest on top of interest every single year and before you know it, you\u2019ve accumulated a little debt. And so when you go to sell your house or your estate goes to sell your house, you owe the city a lot of money and you had no idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You thought it was just the increase on your taxes and you had no idea it was going to be charged. Anyways, this is a very bad tax plan. And then, for the freeze,\u00a0 you can freeze for one year, but they pretty much did that this year and took money out of a reserve fund. You can\u2019t do that every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, we have to go line-by-line. We have to cut. It\u2019ll probably be some staffing, unfortunately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe they\u2019ll show you best practices from other cities. Like, I think it could be a very good thing, a useful tool, and I have nothing to hide. You know, everything I do is an open book. I have no idea why they would turn [having an auditor general] down, but they did. So, now it makes me extra curious to get in there and open up the books, so we would set a report card on what we wanted to accomplish, taxes at the rate of inflation.<\/p>\n
I would have milestones of all my promises on affordable housing, on transit and a statement every year on where we are in achieving the goals we are. But number one is the taxes. Number two is policing, making people feel safe in their communities again, and number three is getting this community moving again, quite frankly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PARRISH: They hold you accountable every four years, for sure. I do a lot of public meetings. I have a Muslim Advisory Council and I made it a mayor\u2019s advisory council. I also have a senior\u2019s advisory committee that\u2019s a mayor\u2019s advisory committee. I\u2019ve got an arts advisory committee; one of the other councillors chairs it for me, because he\u2019s a crazy guy about arts and really into it. So, I\u2019m accountable that way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also accountable with public meetings on budget. We did something like 16 budget meetings this year. That accountability will be there.<\/p>\n
My priority is to rebuild the city centre and there has to be a lot of consultation, particularly with the arts community. They\u2019re very nervous that we\u2019re just going to tear down the [Living Arts Centre] and not replace it \u2014 that\u2019s not happening. So information is gold. You have to be able to hold enough public meetings and get serious input from people and not jump into it in a big hurry. But that\u2019s my big objective is to get that city centre at least started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is your position on data centre development in Mississauga? How will you weigh potential economic benefits against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194297],"tags":[49,48,3411,55405,147733],"class_list":["post-941793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mississauga","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-elections","tag-mississauga","tag-peel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}