'Everybody's in the dark': Employees face uncertain future as Peel region split looms
CBC
With little over a year to go before Peel region is dissolved, regional employees say they still have no reassurances about what the split means for the work they do daily and their job security.
When the province announced five months ago it was dissolving the region, it said it was doing so to cut through red tape to get homes built more quickly amid the housing crisis.
Ministry spokesperson Alexandru Cioban told CBC Toronto that it's put a transition board in place which will make recommendations "by next summer" — months before Ontario's scheduled Jan. 1, 2025 implementation deadline.
But CUPE 966 president Salil Arya says the transition board's process is secretive and breeding unease among workers. Already, he says there's been an impact on recruitment and retention of public healthcare workers — some of whom worry the split risks undermining the services they say are working well regionally, like Peel Public Health.
On Oct. 12, public health nurses, long-term care workers and drivers for residents with disabilities, among others, attended a council meeting and urged their municipal representatives to push the province for answers.
"Everything is a question mark. Everybody's in the dark," Arya said.
For 18 years, Michelle Eagle has worked as a public health nurse for Peel region, which is currently made up of Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon.
At the Oct. 12 council meeting, she told councillors that uncertainty is already affecting recruitment and retention of public healthcare workers.
Eagle says she loves her job at Peel Public Health, but now feels "there's no security." She says she's not sure how long she and some of her longtime peers will be able to hold out as they're courted by other public health bodies.
"We can only wait so long before we decide that maybe you don't want to invest in us as much as we have invested in you," Eagle said, urging councillors: "Please don't take too long."
The provincial government announced in May that Peel would be dissolved at the start of 2025 through the Hazel McCallion Act. The transition board was appointed to make recommendations to the ministry of municipal affairs and housing — including ones about the services currently provided by the regional government.
Arya's calling on the provincial government to tell the transition board to "make their recommendations public." He says workers in all sectors are trying to make the best decisions for their families in advance.
"People right now employed here should know what their future entails," he said. "After January 2025, will they be receiving a paycheck?"
Also at the Oct. 12 council meeting, Peel's Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Katherine Bingham expressed worries about the region's healthcare positions.
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