3) Gapyeong, South Korea

4) Xuzhou, China

5) Funhill, China

For the time being, the city will honour the existing agreements, but the now-adopted recommendations also direct staff to look into formally ending those agreements.

“Immediately following the director’s endorsement, a memo of understanding will be developed by staff and negotiated with the target city having a specified termination date and satisfactory terms and conditions,” added Darling in his report.

While the city is ending its existing program, it will continue to build economic relationships with other cities across the world through other initiatives and different kinds of partnerships.

According to Darling’s report, the new recommended program mirrors that of other cities and is based on Brampton’s new economic development master plan, which is currently under development.

City staff interviewed nine municipalities across Canada, including Toronto and Mississauga, to see how they are approaching global partnerships, and has settled on a new global partnership approach that is more sector-focused.

“Staff is recommending a new economic development global partnership program that will align with the economic development master plan and overall economic development strategy,” Darling reported to council.

“Brampton’s economic development global partnership program will be a multi-phase process, developing formal global city partnerships by creating economic development opportunities within one of the four key industries: Advanced Manufacturing, food and beverage processing, health and life sciences, and innovation and technology,” he added.

Not all members of council were on board with putting an end to the sister city program. The motion to adopt the staff recommendations as is passed with a 7-4 vote, with Jeffrey, and councillors Pat Fortini, Martin Medeiros and Gael Miles voting against.

Those in opposition believed sister city agreements were productive and important beyond just the dollars and cents. Others felt the city was giving up a global engagement tool, which Brampton was in a very good position to leverage as a result of its diverse population.