The race to be Mississauga’s next mayor is heating up. Meet 10 candidates vying for the win

March 13, 2024 Canuck

The race to become the next mayor of Mississauga is heating up, with 10 candidates throwing their hat in the ring so far — but political experts say it’s not just anybody’s race to win.

The nomination period opened on March 7 and closes April 26. Candidates have until election day, June 10, to get their messaging out to motivate Mississaugans to vote.

Dennis Pilon, a political scientist and department chair at York University, says candidates who are better known are likely to have the biggest advantage in the race, followed by those with considerable political experience and a team of people already willing to help them.

“It’s a game of name recognition,” said Pilon. “Most voters are going to be unaware it’s going on and those who are aware that it’s going on are going to struggle to distinguish between candidates.”

Since 1978, the city has had only two mayors — Bonnie Crombie and her predecessor, political mainstay Hazel McCallion, who led Mississauga for 36 years. Crombie recently left the post after winning the Ontario Liberal leadership race. Her exit triggered a flurry of interested candidates declaring they intended to run, four of them current councillors, and others, including the son of a former mayor, looking to enter the arena for the first time.

Political strategist Aleem Kanji says some candidates, including some councillors, are likely using the race as a “profile-building exercise.”

“The winning candidate is going to build a very big tent,” he said. But reaching a wide base of supporters takes organization and team.

“You’re going to need to mount a serious campaign,” he said, which means big financial costs.

He says he’s not sure all candidates will make it to the finish line.

Housing and growth top issues

Mississauga’s first big wave of growth a few decades ago was fuelled by people who wanted to get out of Toronto to have a larger individual home, said York University political scientist Zachary Spicer. Now newcomers and even children of some of those who came here 30 years ago are looking for where they can live in the city.

Housing and how Mississauga grows is a big issue for most candidates. This photo is of a development next to a new major transit hub in Port Credit. — Housing and how Mississauga grows are big issues for most candidates. This photo is of a development next to a new major transit hub in Port Credit. (John Badcock/CBC)

Different demographics may be seeking different things and have a different desire for change, said Spicer.

“Byelections are unpredictable, but the dynamics in Mississauga make this very unpredictable,” he said. “The underlying issue that is going to command a lot of attention is what kind of city does Mississauga want to be?”

CBC Toronto invited all candidates to share their top issues. Most identified building more housing among their top three priorities.

Meet the candidates, beginning with four councillors you may already know of:

Dipika Damerla

Dipika Damerla has represented the Cooksville area for five years as a councillor. She also spent seven years representing Mississauga-East Cooksville provincially as an MPP.

“As mayor, I would prioritize affordability, which includes building more homes to make housing more affordable, community safety and attracting jobs and investment to Mississauga,” she said.

Damerla says the city needs to get shovels in the ground sooner by speeding up approval processes, but that the city must be mindful to build “in a responsible way” by ensuring community centres, transit and playgrounds keep up with growth.

The former finance professional and small business owner says her combination of private sector and political experience combined with her energy mean she can hit the ground running.

Stephen Dasko

Stephen Dasko, who represents Port Credit, was elected as Ward 1 councillor in 2018.

He says housing, community safety, and city building are his three top issues. He wants more housing types, livable communities and good planning.

He says creating a good city doesn’t mean you need to raise taxes, adding he’d find “effective efficiency measures” to lower taxes for residents.

“We want to have a city that’s going to come into its own and that’s going to thrive,” he said. He praised past leadership but said he’s the person to help take the city from good to great.

Carolyn Parrish

Carolyn Parrish is the Ward 5 Councillor, but also represented Mississauga ridings as a federal MP from 1993 to 2006 before making the leap to municipal politics.

While she has supported housing initiatives like fourplexes while on council, she says the city needs to move faster on housing.

“We need something more dramatic and something that’s going to put lots of units in quickly,” she said.

She says she will re-zone a stretch of land along Highway 10 near the new LRT, currently zoned for office, to mixed use and arrange with developers to create affordable housing in the space. She says she’d be willing to use strong mayor powers to make it happen.

Parrish has also said she is resigning her seat on council, which she says proves she is serious about her run for mayor. Spicer notes that unless they choose to resign, existing councillors can keep their job if they lose the mayoral race, making running a safer wager.

Alvin Tedjo

Alvin Tedjo was elected to council in 2022. The former post-secondary education sector worker and child care advocate lives in Clarkson and represents Ward 2.

The candidate says housing, affordability and safe and complete communities are his priorities.

“We need all kinds of housing here in the city of Mississauga, from purpose-built rental, to market housing, to affordable housing, to supportive housing to shelters,” he said. “We’re really in a crisis. We only hit 39 per cent of our target in the last year and that’s unacceptable.”

Tedjo brought forward the motion to allow fourplexes in the city last year.

Tedjo also says his plan won’t raise taxes. He says he can do this by increasing the tax base by welcoming people to the city by building more homes.

Peter McCallion

Mississauga businessman Peter McCallion says he is ready to follow in his mother’s footsteps.

Speaking to media on his nomination day, McCallion said his priorities are to “make it affordable for everybody and keep taxes down.”

In 2022, he ran unsuccessfully for a council seat in Ward 9.

This is a whole new campaign, he said. “I learned a lot from that and I’m going to make sure it works better this time. I’m going to win.”

David Shaw

David Shaw is a recently retired section fire chief in the city and describes himself as a lifelong volunteer.

If elected, he says he’d focus on property taxes, school systems and housing. He says delays in housing starts in Mississauga are the fault of the Ford government, adding city council has made thousands of approvals.

Shaw ran to be mayor in the general election, placing a distant second to Crombie, but beating six other candidates.

George Tavares

George Tavares said he brings experience as a CEO and by working in engineering. He also describes himself as a community activist and is a former mayoral candidate.

He says he would finalize the LRT project, including ensuring the province picks up the tab for anything over budget. He’d also focus on proactive crime prevention and improving infrastructure, in particular the Bloor bike lane project he says is flawed

When it comes to development, he says it will take all levels of government working together but feels the provincial government coming in with ministerial zoning orders or removing development charges hasn’t had a positive impact.

Tavares also says he’s not taking any donations or bringing on any volunteers as part of his campaign.

Peter Tolias

Peter Tolias owns a landscaping and plowing business and runs seminars aimed at empowering youth across the region.

He says his priorities are affordable housing, stopping crime and empowering youth to dream big.

He argues housing needs to be faster. “We need to work with all levels of government to ensure that developments are approved faster so the shovels can get in the ground and homes can be built quicker,” he said.

Syed Jaffery and Amir Ali

Syed Jaffery and Amir Ali also registered to run but did not reply to CBC’s request for comment.

Jaffery ran for Mississauga council in 2018 and 2022, but was not elected. In past elections, he said improving city revenue, transit and infrastructure were priorities for him, as well as improving policing and public safety.

Amir Ali also ran for council in the past, most recently in 2022, but was not elected. On social media pages connected to his campaign, he has said housing affordability, crime reduction and environmental conservation are his priorities.

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