Here’s Who Unions are Supporting in Brampton This Election

Published October 9, 2018 at 3:55 pm

We’ve seen a number of endorsements get thrown around for various candidates in this municipal election.

We’ve seen a number of endorsements get thrown around for various candidates in this municipal election. But now, educators have collectively put their weight behind a few leading up to the October 22 vote.

Peel Education Workers United (PEWU), a group of nine local teachers union organizations has come out with a list of candidates they have deemed to be, in their words, ‘education friendly.’

The Peel Region Labour Council and Concerned Citizens of Peel endorsed the candidates for council in Brampton and Mississauga, while the PEWU focused on endorsements for the school board. Those candidates are:

Mississauga Mayor – Bonnie Crombie

Mississauga City / Regional Councillor – Joe Horneck (Ward 6), Matt Mahoney (Ward 8) and Pat Saito (Ward 9)

Brampton Mayor – Linda Jeffrey

Brampton Regional Councillor – Paul Vicente (Wards 1 & 5), Gurpreet Kaur Bains (Wards 2 & 6), Martin Medeiros (Wards 3 & 4) and Gurpreet Dhillon (Wards 9 & 10).

Brampton City Councillor – Rowena Santos (Wards 1 & 5), Jim McDowell (Wards 2 & 6) and Harkirat Singh (Wards 9 & 10)

Peel District School Board Trustees (Brampton)

Stan Taylor (Wards 1 & 5), Alex Battick (Wards 2 & 6), Radha Taylor (Wards 3 & 4), Garner Liverpool (Wards 7 & 8) and Balbir Sohi (Wards 9 & 10)

Peel District School Board Trustees (Mississauga)

Husain Aboghodieh (Wards 1 & 7), Sue Lawton (Wards 3 & 4), Ryan Gurcharn (Ward 5), Robert Crocker (Wards 6 & 11) and Nokha Dakroub (Wards 9 & 10)


The Labour Council mentioned Martin Singh from Wards 3 & 4 as one of their endorsements; however Singh is actually the Brampton city council candidate for 7 & 8. Inbrampton has reached out to the PRLC to get a clarification on their announcement.

As for the school board, there was no endorsement of any candidate by PEWU in Mississauga Wards 2 & 8. Inbrampton.com asked ETFO spokesperson Felipe Pareja the reasoning behind that conclusion.  

“We sent surveys out to some 90 candidates in total and got back 40 of them. Regarding Mississauga’s Wards 2 and 8, 4 out of the 5 candidates running there got back to us, but after reviewing their answers we came to the conclusion that we couldn’t find anyone that satisfactorily answered our questions to warrant an endorsement,” Pareja said in a phone call.

As for the specific questions in the survey for candidates, Pareja said they ranged from topics such as equity, the education funding formula, EQAO test scores, school repairs, technology, workers right to strike, learning conditions for children and the repeal of the sex-ed curriculum.


In the questionnaire to the council candidates, as obtained from one of them who filed a response, topics ranged from how to balance revenue and expenses, “buying local”, privatization of public services / protection of public services, hiring practices at Peel Region, labour relations and inclusion / diversity.

One of the candidates for Mississauga Ward 2 & 8 trustee, Charles Chen, answered a question about public education infrastructure by stating, “not only do we have to cut the rope from the end of efficiency spending, we also have to address it from the end of increased funding towards repairs and maintenance.”

Considering this is a labour union, hearing the use of ‘efficiency spending’ probably came off as anathema to them; it probably reminded them too much of the current provincial government’s modus operandi.

As the election day approaches, it will be interesting to see if the endorsement from these teachers unions managed to sway any votes.  

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