Featured Guest
You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions.
Bonnie Crombie
Mayor of Mississauga
5 Key
Takeaways
A roundup of the most compelling ideas, themes and quotes from this candid conversation|
Additional Reading
& Resources
1. Where are the funds?
Mayor Crombie said that all cities are struggling to keep revenue coming in, and there is no ability for cities to go into deficit and losses are not recoverable. She added that the federal and provincial governments have done a great job at providing business continuity funding and relief funding for students, seniors and the unemployed. And now the last frontier is municipalities.
2. Tale of two pandemics
COVID-19 cases in Ontario are generally on the decline. And while there are certainly communities in Ontario which are COVID-free, densely populated areas like Toronto, Mississauga and Ottawa are seeing delines at a much slower rate, Mayor Crombie said. She added that this means there shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all solution to mitigating the impacts of the crisis.
3. Mayoral unity
Mayor Crombie said a key learning that has already emerged from COVID-19 is that when mayors act in unison, they have a much stronger voice. She said a united front means they can come together and talk about common themes that impact each of their municipalities – like infrastructure and transit funding, affordable housing, green infrastructure, etc. And when they speak with one voice, she said, it has the biggest impact at all levels of government.
4. Signal of Hope
Mississauga is a very diverse city, the mayor said, and the Muslim population is one of the city’s largest groups. And while the City has banned religious gatherings, the City of Mississauga voted to allow mosques in the city to do calls to prayer during Ramadan, relaxing city noise bylaws up to the end of the religious holiday on May 24. The mayor said this has provided the community with a message of hope, inspiration, and support – one which is supported by the interfaith community in Mississauga.
5. Using technology for civic engagement
The mayor said the City of Mississauga was an early adopter of technology in order to continue council meetings. She said she has also used online platforms to consult with over 600 community and business groups over the last eight weeks, asking them how COVID-19 has impacted them and how the city, or other levels of government, can help. She says it’s business and community leaders who are helping drive the discussion on issues such as economic recovery.
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Full Panel
Transcript
Note to readers: This video session was transcribed using auto-transcribing software. Manual editing was undertaken in an effort to improve readability and clarity. Questions or concerns with the transcription can be directed to events@canurb.org with “transcription” in the subject line.
Full Audience
Chatroom Transcript
Note to reader: Chat comments have been edited for ease of readability. The text has not been edited for spelling or grammar. For questions or concerns, please contact events@canurb.org with “Chat Comments” in the subject line.13:01:48 From Alan Kan to All panelists: Hi Madame Mayor
13:02:59 From Canadian Urban Institute: CUI is looking for volunteers to help us continue the great work of our COVID-19 initiatives. If you can help, please contact us at covidresponse@canurb.org
13:03:39 From Canadian Urban Institute: Folks, please change your chat settings to “all panelists and attendees” so everyone can see your comments.
13:05:29 From Mayor Bonnie Crombie to All panelists: hi everyone from Mississauga
13:05:31 From Canadian Urban Institute: Keep the conversation going #citytalk @canurb
13:05:55 From Emily Wall, CUI Staff: Today’s conversation is with Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga, ON.
13:06:20 From Canadian Urban Institute: You can find transcripts and recordings of today’s and all our webinars at
https://www.canurb.org/citytalk
13:27:10 From Lukas Golka to All panelists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GA8YMrAtmg
13:29:14 From Rita Bijons: What is the name of the Bloomberg platform that Mayor Crombie, Don Iveson et al. are involved with?
13:29:59 From Lisa Cavicchia, CUI Staff: https://www.cityleadership.harvard.edu/
13:29:59 From Irena Kohn: https://ash.harvard.edu/cityleadership
13:32:28 From Alan Kan to All panelists: I live in a high rise and our elevators are working
13:32:48 From Alan Kan to All panelists: But we are limited to three people in an elevator at any given time
13:32:55 From Suzanne Kavanagh: My condo one person per elevator, 10 storey building. 3 working elevators
13:33:03 From Canadian Urban Institute: Reminding attendees to please change your chat settings to “all panelists and attendees” so everyone can see your comments.
13:33:34 From Alan Kan: I live in a high rise and our elevators are working. Limited to three people though
13:34:06 From Brian Owen to All panelists: Re: Elevators – protective button covers, voice activation is now possible, and … you have the elevator service contractor recalibrate the weight to the number of occupants, ie – 2 BUT we will need the cooperation of the TSSA
13:34:46 From Brian Owen: Re: Elevators – protective button covers, voice activation is now possible, and … you have the elevator service contractor recalibrate the weight to the number of occupants, ie – 2 BUT we will need the cooperation of the TSSA.
13:36:53 From Brian Owen: Explanation: if you haver ever been in a modern overloaded elevator, it won’t move if overweight.
13:37:45 From Alan Kan: Can the mayor talk about the recent suspension of noise bylaw to allow mosques to broadcast call to prayer (azan)
13:43:14 From Canadian Urban Institute: You can find transcripts and recordings of today’s and all our webinars at
https://www.canurb.org/citytalk
13:46:13 From Emily Wall, CUI Staff: Please help CUI improve its CityTalk programming with a short post-webinar survey – https://bit.ly/2LlLfFR
13:47:36 From Canadian Urban Institute: Keep the conversation going #citytalk @canurb
13:50:49 From Canadian Urban Institute: CUI is looking for volunteers to help us continue the great work of our COVID-19 initiatives. If you can help, please contact us at covidresponse@canurb.org
13:51:17 From Brian Rooney to All panelists: Very important to support local businesses
14:00:44 From Catherine Soplet: Great conversation, Thank you Mayor Crombie and thank you Mary Rowe @ CanUrb for this webinar
14:00:54 From Mirella Palermo: Thank-you for the great discussion & resources!
14:01:10 From Canadian Urban Institute: Keep the conversation going #citytalk @canurb
14:01:27 From Eva Chu: Thanks to everyone for the great conversations!!!
14:01:29 From Emily Wall, CUI Staff: Please help CUI improve its CityTalk programming with a short post-webinar survey – https://bit.ly/2LlLfFR
14:01:38 From Francis Wallace: Thanks everyone!
14:01:58 From Melissa Ricci: Thanks you for all the insight!
14:02:12 From Tracy Tang: Thank you, CUI and Mayor Crombie!
14:09:31 From Canadian Urban Institute: Chat will close in two minutes.
