By Bonnie Crombie
I am running for Mayor again because I believe Mississauga should expect more from its City Hall — especially on the issues that affect people’s daily lives.
Community safety is top among them.
Residents want to feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods. Business owners should not have to fear extortion. Parents should not have to worry about dangerous driving around schools. And when someone calls 911, they should have confidence that help is coming.
Those expectations are reasonable. Delivering on them requires strong policing, smart prevention and political leadership that is willing to stay engaged when decisions become difficult.
That is why I believe the Mayor of Mississauga should have a seat on the Peel Police Services Board.
Carolyn Parrish left the Board after disagreeing with its budget decisions. I disagreed with her choice. It was an abdication of leadership.
A Mayor cannot meaningfully influence police priorities, budgets, accountability and the strategic direction of the service from the sidelines. You have to be at the table.
I have served on the Police Services Board before. I know the role is not to tell the Chief how to conduct police operations. It is to provide civilian oversight, establish priorities, scrutinize spending and make sure the public is getting results.
If elected Mayor, I intend to return to that table and do exactly that.
I strongly support Chief Nishan Duraiappah and the frontline officers of Peel Regional Police. Police officers are asked to deal with increasingly complex challenges, and they need the resources and tools to do their jobs properly.
But supporting police should also mean making sure we use those resources intelligently.
Take paperwork.
Police officers are highly trained professionals. If a sworn officer is spending hours on administrative work that could safely be done by a civilian employee, that is not a good use of police time or taxpayers’ money.
We should look at greater civilian and clerical support for appropriate administrative functions, and at responsible uses of artificial intelligence and automation that can reduce repetitive paperwork.
The goal is simple: less time behind a desk and more time doing police work.
The same practical approach should guide how we deal with crime itself.
Residents are worried about home invasions, auto theft, robbery, organized crime and repeat violent offenders. Peel has also seen deeply troubling cases of extortion, including threats against members of the South Asian community and local businesses.
Those crimes demand specialized investigative capacity and strong cooperation between Peel Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, federal agencies and international partners.
Victims also need support. A family or business owner facing an extortion threat should not feel that they are dealing with an organized criminal network by themselves.
Hate crime must be treated with the same seriousness.
No one should feel unsafe in Mississauga because of their religion, ethnicity, culture or identity. Police enforcement matters, but so do community relationships, victim supports and trust.
During my previous time on the Police Services Board, I supported the Board’s work with the Ontario Human Rights Commission to address systemic and anti-Black racism in policing and strengthen accountability. Public safety and public trust have to reinforce each other.
There is also more we can do to prevent crime before it happens.
Mental-health crisis teams can connect people with appropriate care while allowing officers to focus more of their time on policing.
Youth programs can provide mentorship, jobs, recreation, counselling and alternatives to gangs and violence.
And smaller issues matter too.
As children return to school, dangerous driving, speeding and illegal or underage e-scooter use are real concerns for parents. City Hall, police, school boards and public-health officials should be working together on practical education and enforcement.
Then there is the question every taxpayer eventually asks: what are we getting for the money?
Mississauga residents contribute a very substantial amount toward policing. I support strong funding for public safety, but no public institution should receive a blank cheque.
At the Police Services Board, I would propose a regular value-for-money review looking at issues such as overtime, administrative overhead, civilianization, procurement, fleet costs, facilities, technology and opportunities for shared services.
That is not about arbitrary cuts. It is about protecting frontline policing by making sure dollars are not being unnecessarily consumed elsewhere.
Every dollar we can save in administration can either reduce pressure on taxpayers or be put toward better frontline service.
And residents should be able to see the results.
I would like to see simple, regular public reporting on things people actually care about: auto theft, home invasions, robbery, extortion, hate crime, 911 response and stolen-vehicle recovery, with Mississauga-specific data wherever possible.
If crime is going down, residents should know it.
If response times are improving, residents should know it.
And if we are spending more without getting better results, elected officials should have to explain why.
This is ultimately why I decided to run for Mayor again.
I believe Mississauga needs more urgency on the basics: affordability, congestion, community safety and accountable public services.
On policing, that means supporting the Chief and frontline officers, staying at the table when difficult decisions are being made and being disciplined about how taxpayers’ money is spent.
Leadership is not walking away when you disagree. It is staying in the room, doing the work and delivering better results for the people you represent.
