All six Brampton councillors walked out of a regional council meeting on Thursday, Dec. 12 ahead of a vote on a proposed new funding model for Peel police that could shift $69 million onto the city's taxpayers.

Mississauga councillor Carolyn Parrish tabled a motion requesting the Peel Regional Police Service switch to an OPP funding model, which combines a per-household cost and charges based on number and types of calls in the respective cities.

Budget allocations for police are based solely on property tax assessment, with Brampton paying 37.3 per cent, and Mississauga 62.7 per cent, in 2019. The proposed funding model would change that balance, shifting $69 million onto Brampton taxpayers and off those in Mississauga.

The councillors left after Parrish amended the motion, which passed at Mississauga city council, to include a bylaw which would effect the change in 2021. Procedure does not allow meetings to proceed without representatives of all three municipalities present.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who had left the meeting prior to the walkout, said Mississauga was playing procedural games to destabilize the region because they are disappointed with Ontario's decision to maintain the status quo of regional governance.

That day, Mississauga and Caledon regional councillors voted to request police find efficiencies in their proposed budget.

"I'm livid they would even propose curtailing public safety at a time when we face real challenges in Peel," Brown said.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie called the Brampton councillor's action unfair, and said the OPP model was the most equitable formula, citing an Ernst and Young financial analysis overseen by staff from the region and both cities.

"[Councillors] have had the agenda for over a week now," she added. "It was no surprise it was being brought forward, given that we have a staff member here presenting on this issue."

Brampton Coun. Martin Medeiros said he would be open to considering alternate funding models besides the OPP's, but Parrish's motion was "based on incomplete information."