Ward 1 Coun. Stephen Dasko said the process has not been transparent and knocking the bridge down would be demolishing part of Mississauga’s history.

“To me it's a slippery slope,” he said. “If this is allowed to happen, what's next?

Mississauga council passed a motion objecting to the bridge demolition at its Nov. 20 meeting. As part of the motion, Mayor Bonnie Crombie will send letters to local MPPs and Premier Doug Ford, “outlining the city’s strong objection” to the proposed replacement of the bridge.

Ward 2 Coun. Karen Ras called the proposed replacement a “wholesale change” at the Nov. 20 council meeting.

“I think people are going to be absolutely disgusted when they find out what's being proposed,” she said.

Ward 11 Coun. George Carlson, who is also the chair of the city's heritage committee, called the bridge a rare and "soaring example of Art Deco architecture" and said plans to knock down the structure would have consequences for other historic Ontario properties.

"It's a 10 out of 10 for stupidity," he said. "And basically, if the province is by disobeying its own rules, how do they expect hundreds and thousands of homeowners across the province to comply with the heritage requirements for their own houses that they own?"

In an email, ministry spokesperson Astrid Poei said “cost was a factor” in choosing demolition as the preferred option, but declined to discuss price estimates for repairing versus replacing the bridge.

“We are not able to discuss cost estimates as it could jeopardize the competitive procurement process that has just begun and harm our efforts to obtain the most favourable cost proposals from bidders,” she said.

With its heritage status, demolishing the existing bridge requires the consent of Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s heritage minister.

According the province’s conservation standards, MacLeod can grant consent to knock the bridge down if she believes that all options other than removal or demolition have been considered by the ministry.

MacLeod can also put conditions on the bridge that “mitigate adverse effects on the property” due to removal and demolition.

Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries spokesperson Denelle Balfour said in an email that, as of Nov. 22, no formal request for demolition of the QEW Credit River bridge has been received by the ministry.

Following the current consultations, the ministry is anticipating filling a report with the teardown and replace option as well as responses to stakeholder questions and concerns in March 2020.

A 30-day public review will follow and, according to Poei, construction on the north twin bridge is anticipated to begin in the summer or fall of 2020.

Disclaimer: These poll results are not scientific. They are the informal findings of a survey presented to the readers of The Mississauga News and reflect the opinions of those readers who have chosen to participate. The survey is available online to anyone who is interested in taking it.