The race for the mayor's chair in Mississauga is a heated battle between incumbent Carolyn Parrish and former mayor Bonnie Crombie.
The second debate between the four top mayoral candidates was held last week on Thursday, Oct. 1 at the distribution centre for Food Banks Mississauga. The debate saw sparks fly between Parrish and Crombie. “We changed your archaic rules into ones that work,” Parrish said in her opening remarks.
Crombie responded, “With respect, those plans were started long before while you were a councillor.”
After the debate, polls counted by Mainstream Research, one of Canada’s top public opinion and market research firms, had Crombie leading with 30.4 per cent, Parrish second at 27.6 per cent, Tedjo with 20.5 per cent, and Damerla having 10.4 per cent. Twenty-six per cent of voters still sit undecided.
There are 14 candidates running for mayor, although recent polling has shown Crombie and Parrish receiving the most support. The leading candidates under Parrish and Crombie are Ward 7 Coun. Dipika Damerla and Ward 2 Coun. Alvin Tedjo, who have also campaigned on issues including affordability, housing, transit and municipal spending.
Parrish became mayor in June 2024, winning a by-election triggered when Crombie’s resigned after nearly a decade in office to pursue the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party. After failing to win a seat in the provincial legislature, Crombie returned to municipal politics and registered as a candidate for mayor in July 2026.
Both Parrish and Crombie have big plans for Mississauga in terms of ensuring neighbourhood safety, easier transportation, and lower taxation. More specifically, Parrish plans to focus on the split of the budget for the Peel Regional Police.
“We pay 62 per cent of a joint police force with Brampton; they pay 38.” Parrish said in an interview with Humber ETC, “This year alone, we subsidized Brampton taxpayers $16 million, and over the last five years, we’ve subsidized them $399 million.”
Parrish highlighted that she is working very hard with Premier Doug Ford to rejig the split, so it is not based on property values but on population instead. Parrish also said on what role Mississauga should play in regional planning across the GTA, saying Mississauga already plays a strong role in regional planning across the GTA, and how Brampton and Caledon need to have roles of their own.
“We did a housing task force after I was elected with 25 of our top developers and builders, and they came up with a whole series of suggestions for our planning department to make things work more smoothly and quickly. So, we’re doing what we can do for Mississauga, less concerned about regional planning.”
Crombie became mayor after winning the 2014 municipal election. She ran to replace long-serving mayor Hazel McCallion, who stepped down after 36 years in office. Crombie said she plans to handle property taxes and the cost of living differently than the current Council of Mississauga.
“I feel that my property tax increases always are in and around the rate of inflation or lower. So, for instance, my [tax] average over nine years on the city portion was 1.7 per cent,” she said in an interview with Humber ETC. “So, the combined rate on average over nine years with the region of Peel was 3.4 per cent.”
Crombie said she thinks that the current council has made property taxes unaffordable, with people leaving the city and potentially losing their homes. Especially with senior pensions, as their tax increase last year was 10 per cent, and this year’s was 7.5 per cent.
Crombie also spoke about the LRT route on Hurontario Street from Brampton to Mississauga, in an interview with Humber ETC, saying it will hopefully open before 2028. The LRT will get people out of their cars and moving north-south to Brampton. She also brings up her idea of expanding Line 2 in Toronto to Mississauga.
“It will take a period of time to build the business case, do the engineering studies, present them to the prime minister, and then the line would have to be expanded to Sherway Gardens first,” she said. “I know that that has been given consideration for a number of years, but then again we would just keep going; I’m hoping within the decades something like that could be realized.”
Affordability, housing and property taxes are among the few major issues facing voters. Parrish has said she opposed a municipal tax freeze suggested by fellow candidate Tedjo, while Crombie has said she would keep potential tax increases at or below inflation.
Both candidates have also offered different approaches to transportation, including proposals involving MiWay, GO Transit and the potential extension of the TTC’s Line 2 into Mississauga, but one will take up the responsibilities after Oct. 26.
Advance voting is from Tuesday, Oct. 6 to Sunday Oct. 11. Election day is Monday, Oct. 26.
