The election was intended to be the first ever direct election of the Peel Regional chair. However, the election of this position was cancelled after the Doug Ford government introduced The Better Local Government Act, 2018 (Bill 5) in August 2018.[4]
Open races
Jim Tovey, Mississauga councillor for Ward 1, died suddenly in January 2018. Tovey was in the midst of planning for massive waterfront redevelopment.[5]
In February 2018, Brampton councillor Chris Gibson announced his retirement in Wards 1 & 5. Officially a city councillor, he had been given the city's additional Regional seat for multiple terms.[6] Regional councillor Elaine Moore, from the same wards, announced her retirement in late March.[7]
Gael Miles retirement was made public the evening before the start of registration.[8] Caledon's Doug Beffort retired.
Peel Region chair
Original nomination process
In 2016, the provincial Liberal government announced voters in the 2018 election would elect regional chairs. Across the province, the selection of regional chairs varies, with some regional councils electing chairs while other chairs being selected by councillors. Peel Region traditionally appointed the regional chair from existing councillors.[9]
In early 2018, the candidates for the position of regional chair began to be nominated.
Starting the year "85% sure" he would run,[10] Ron Starr officially announced his intention to run for Regional Chair in late March 2018.[11] Later, after the cancellation of the position, Starr withdrew to run for re-election in Ward 6.
Rumours that were circulating of Patrick Brown running for Regional chair were neither confirmed or denied, when asked by Metroland in May 2018. Brown was accused of sexual misconduct in January, which he denies, forcing his resignation as Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader. He moved to Mississauga after being removed from the party caucus. He did not run for re-election as a Barrie MPP in the June provincial election.[12]Patrick Brown also withdrew from the race.
Mississauga councillor Nando Iannicca enrolled in July.[13]
Bob Delaney, former MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville, registered in July. Charles Sousa and Harinder Takhar, also former MPPs, agreed to not run, in an effort to not split the vote.[14]
Registered candidates included:
Amir S. Ali, Brampton
Parveen Dalal, Mississauga
Bob Delaney, Mississauga
Vitya Sagar Gautam, Brampton
Marcin Huniewicz, Brampton
Nando Iannicca, Mississauga
Masood Khan, Brampton
Ken Looy, Brampton
Gurpreet Pabla, Brampton
A shift in Ontario's government after the provincial elections, saw Doug Ford announce the cancellation of the voter elected position of regional chair in Peel.[15]
While this prompted Brown to pull his Chair nomination, to run for Mayor of Brampton, Delaney continued his campaign, noting that the law had yet to pass.[16]
Incumbent Frank Dale has indicated he may change his mind on retirement, according to The Mississauga News.[17]
Appointment process
TVO journalist Steve Paikin has heard suggestion of the following candidates:[18]
Nando Iannicca
Linda Jeffrey
Gael Miles
Elaine Moore
Charles Sousa
Former Caledon Regional councillor Barb Shaughnessy, who had run for Mayor of Caledon, indicated that she would not be pursuing the position.[19]
Brampton
Brampton had 313,273 eligible voters during the 2018 election. A total of 169 voting locations were open across the city.
Mayor
In October 2017, incumbent Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey announced her intent to run for a second term.[20]
Real estate lawyer Wesley Jackson was noted in a February 2018 Peel Daily News article as "hoping to become Brampton's next mayor."[21]
In July, John Sprovieri announced his intention to run for Mayor of Brampton.[22] Omar Mansoury withdrew.
On Election Day on October 22, Patrick Brown was declared the winner.[1]
Brampton Board of Trade is hosting debates of city council candidates throughout the day on September 17, 2018, through live stream, concluding with a Mayoral debate. Brown, Gosal, Jackson, Jeffrey, and Sprovieri were invited to the event. Questions were pre-selected from membership. According to the Guardian, the majority of the event saw "Brown and Sprovieri focusing much of their attention on Jeffrey's record and vice versa."[24]
The first Mayoral debate to allow physical attendance will be held September 20, 2018, at Sheridan College, Davis Campus, through The Pointer, an online news outlet for Brampton.[25]
Brampton Focus hosted a debate on September 25 at the Rose Theatre Brampton, inviting Jeffrey, Brown, Gosal, and Sprovieri. Media reports suggest that the debate was often drowned out by cheering and jeering.[26]
A debate was held by the Brampton Real Estate Board on October 4. All candidates were in attendance.[27]
Incumbent Linda Jeffrey and candidate Patrick Brown both polled at 40%, John Sprovieri polled at 7%, Wesley Jackson at 5%, Bal Gosal at 4%, Vinod Kumar Mahesan at 4%, and Mansoor Ameersulthan at 1%.
Mainstreet's numbers were based on decided voters; 5.6% of voters were voting for other candidates. The complete survey found 17.4% of all voters were undecided.
Regional council
Map of Brampton's wards
Ward 1 & 5
Moffat, Rai, Russo, and Vicente attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.[35]
Of the candidates, only McClelland has held political office, as a Liberal MPP. He surrendered his law license in 2015, after allegations of professional misconduct.[36]
Russo is a citizen member of the city's Committee of Adjustment, serving as its chair.[37]
Martin Medeiros won the wards over Shan Gill in 2014, by 100 votes.[39] Incumbent Martin Medeiros lived in Mississauga in 2014, but began a move to Brampton, allowing him to run in the election. Resident Peter Bailey filed a legal proceeding to try and remove Medeiros from office, but was unsuccessful. The action was in advance of a vote on the then-Hurontario Main Light Rail Transit project, which Medeiros wanted and Bailey did not.[40]
Former incumbent John Sanderson is a nominee for 2018; he ran for Mayor of Brampton in 2014, finishing second.[39] Sanderson has noted that the 2018 campaign is the "dirtiest" he's experienced, blaming Medeiros for the tone.[41]
Grewal, Kus, Medeiros, and Sanderson attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.[42]
Cody Vatcher has been critical of Mayor Jeffrey, suggesting that she "simply never learned to graciously accept defeat," when her votes were defeated. He also campaigned on standing up to an incumbent who hasn't “stood up for our fair share” and “rolled out the red carpet” for certain health care announcements.[43]
Bruce Marshall has the endorsement of retiring incumbent Gael Miles.[44]
All of the candidates attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.[45]
Boucher, Pimentel, Santos, and Tatangelo attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate.
Pimentel spent 30 years as a City of Brampton employee.[36]
Candidate
Vote
%
Rowena Santos
7,160
41.34
Joe Pimentel
2,647
15.28
Don Patel
1,883
10.87
Daryl Romeo
1,111
6.41
Princess Boucher
856
4.94
Josephine Tatangelo
856
4.94
Abdul Qayyum Chaudhry
843
4.87
Karanjit Singh Pandher
814
4.70
Sanjeev Bansal
586
3.38
Imtiaz Haider
290
1.67
Harmanpreet Mankoo
274
1.58
Ward 2 & 6
Jermaine Chambers
Ojie F. Eghobor
Paul Mann
Jim McDowell
Lisa Pearce
M. Joseph Shaji
Joe Sidhu
Anwar Warsi
Doug Whillans, incumbent
Gurpreet Kaur Bains has withdrawn.
Chambers, Mann, and Pearce attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate. Whillans, chair of a hospital fundraiser golf tournament, was unable to attend. The tournament was scheduled in March.[47]
Candidate
Vote
%
Doug Whillans (X)
5,968
28.99
Jermaine Chambers
3,238
15.73
Jim McDowell
2,859
13.89
Joe Sidhu
2,319
11.27
Paul Mann
1,886
9.16
Lisa Pearce
1,868
9.07
M. Joseph Shaji
906
4.40
Anwar Warsi
797
3.87
Ojie F. Eghobor
744
3.61
Ward 3 & 4
Jeff Bowman, incumbent
Parin Choksi
Harpreet Singh Hansra
Omar Mansoury
Ryan Rennie
Nishi Sidhu
Tanveer Singh
Hansra and Rennie attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate. Incumbent Bowman was unable to attend, due to the debate being scheduled against a hospital fundraising golf tournament, of which he is vice-chair, and had been scheduled since March.[47] Candidate Nishi Sidhu also cited a "previous engagement", and Omar Mansoury accepted the invitation but did not attend.[48]
Bowman has taken time off work at City Hall to campaign, noting that other incumbents continued to collect a wage during their campaigning.[49]
Dabb, Farquharson, Singh, and Tharani attended the Brampton Board of Trade debate whilst various other prominent debates have included Singh, Dabb, Gupta and Sidhu among the candidates.
Candidate
Vote
%
Harkirat Singh
10,804
42.87
Michael Farquharson
4,629
18.37
Rohit Sidhu
3,894
15.45
Dharmaveer Gohil
1,922
7.63
Mangaljit Dabb
1,437
5.70
Mahendra Gupta
1,303
5.17
Naresh Tharani
1,214
4.82
Caledon
Map of Caledon's wards
Mayor
In January 2018, Allan Thompson confirmed that he'd be seeking re-election.[51]
On September 24, the candidates discussed Bolton development at the Inglewood Community Centre.[52]
A Mayoral debate, which would have also been a debate for Ward 5 councillors, was scheduled and cancelled.[53] A resident organized a new debate, for October 9.[54] The event had extensive debate on a new paramedic deployment model.[55]
Council
Rob Mezzapelli[56] and Doug Beffort[57] are both retiring from area council. Gord McClure has yet to announce intent.[51]
Ward 1 Area Councillor
Dwayne Jackson
Lynn Kiernan
Robert Rees
Mauro Testani
William Motley-Bailey was registered, but withdrew.
Downey's campaign literature included free children's passes for the Brampton Fall Fair, passes available for free at schools and stores. Corrigan has objected to the practice, as a possible breach of municipal campaign laws.[59]
Kevin Corrigan
Johanna Downey, incumbent
Candidate
Vote
%
Johanna Downey (X)
3,013
76.67
Kevin Corrigan
917
23.33
Ward 3 & 4 Area Councillor
Cheryl Connors
Nick deBoer, incumbent
Candidate
Vote
%
Nick deBoer (X)
2,319
56.19
Cheryl Connors
1,808
43.81
Ward 3 & 4 Regional Councillor
Derek Clark
Jennifer Innis, incumbent
Candidate
Vote
%
Jennifer Innis (X)
2,877
68.50
Derek Clark
1,323
31.50
Ward 5 Area Councillor
Candidates for Ward 5 Regional and Area Councillor, as well as Mayoral candidates, will appear in a debate organized by a resident, after a scheduled debate was cancelled.[54]
Steve Conforti
Joe Luschak
Tony Rosa
Candidate
Vote
%
Tony Rosa
2,066
40.77
Steve Conforti
2,036
40.17
Joe Luschak
966
19.06
Ward 5 Regional Councillor
Annette Groves, incumbent
Angela Panacci
Candidate
Vote
%
Annette Groves (X)
3,150
60.81
Angela Panacci
2,030
39.19
Mississauga
During the campaign, former Mississauga News editor John Stewart noted that the election was marked by a dearth of information or debates, in contrast to previous elections.[60]
Bonnie Crombie was the incumbent and re-elected with a substantial majority on October 22, 2018.
Kevin J. Johnston announced his intention to run in March 2018. Peel Regional Police charged Johnston in July 2017 with "willfully promoting hatred, a charge under the Criminal Code of Canada that carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail," according to Mississauga News.[61] Johnston withdrew his mayoral candidacy on July 25 and registered to run for Ward 9 city councillor instead.[62] Then on July 26, withdrew his councillor candidacy and re-registered as a mayoral candidate.[63] Johnston stated in September to be talking with four organizations a day.[64] Johnston ran for the same position in the previous election, placing 11th out of 15.
University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union hosted a debate on October 4, that was attended by Chapman, Crombie, Lee, Pouragheli, and Rizvi. They confirmed that Johnston was not invited.[66]
Council
Map of Mississauga's wards
Ward 1
Dave Cook was the appointed incumbent for Ward 1. As per promise on receiving the position,[67] he did not stand for election in the 2018 contest. Cook replaced elected councillor Jim Tovey, who died in January 2018.[68]
Former Conservative Party of Canada federal MP Brad Butt, currently the Mississauga Board of Trade Director of Government Relations, is a notable candidate.[69] Butt also considered running in Ward 6, but changed his intentions when Ron Starr re-entered that race, after the cancellation of the Regional Chair election.[70]
Kristian Velkoski withdrew to run for a public school board trustee.
An all-candidates debate was held September 19, by ratepayers' groups; Marco Pedri did not attend. Topics discussed including speeding reduction, the Lakeview zoning by-law, and cannabis stores.[71] The ward was later profiled by Mississauga News.[72] Three residents' associations held another debate, featuring Burke, Butt, Dasko, Hart, Roque and Setaram. The remaining candidates, Mancini and Pedri, did not attend.[73]
Nikki Clarke was registered as a candidate, but disqualified. Clarke had waited until the last day of the nomination period to file her papers, and was soliciting signatures from City staff. This prompted incumbent Carolyn Parrish to ask for a review of the paperwork by the Clerk's department. A total of 8 discrepancies were found in signatures, and the nominee was not allowed to replace those signatures. Clarke came a close second in the 2018 provincial election, running for the NDP in Mississauga—Malton.[75]
Some of the candidates talked to the Mississauga News about issues important to them.[76] Malton Community Building Project hosted a candidate event on October 9.[77]
Incumbent councillor Ron Starr was in his third term on council when on March 28 at a city council session he announced his intention to run for the newly elected Region of Peel Chair.[78] Fourteen candidates entered the race to succeed Starr for the open seat with Joe Horneck being the first to register. July 23 one week before the filing deadline Starr decided to drop out of contention for Regional Chair with that race had 10 candidates including former PC leader Patrick Brown (now Brampton Mayor) and Starr re-registered for his incumbent ward, suggesting that he could do more in his existing position then as regional chair.[79]
Starr was successful in winning re-election with Ward 6 by a margin of 347 votes proving the closest contest in the city, even though two other wards had no incumbents.[80] Mississauga News columnist John Stewart summarized the race by saying most of the city was a status quo election however "Horneck's loss is more politically impressive than most wins elsewhere. He almost unseated an entrenched council vet in a stable ward. As it is, he's Ward 6 councillor in waiting."[81]
Tahir Ali, Syed Mohammad Jaffery, Fazli Manan, and Avtar Minhas have withdrawn.
Incumbent councillor Nando Iannicca retired from this riding, and re-emerged later in the nomination period as a candidate for Chair of the Region of Peel.
Candidate Mazin Al-Ezzi got into an extended spat with a Ward 10 resident over lawn sign, using "derogatory language" and insulting "the residents repeatedly."[85] Incumbent Sue McFadden described the incident as "scary", while Al-Ezzi says that the resident tried to goad him on every time he intended to leave.[86]
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