Brampton

Elected: Susan Fennell

Brampton is one of the fastest growing municipalities in the country, and the mayoral candidates all agree on the need to promote business development in order to match population growth.

With at least half of the city's workforce now employed beyond its borders there is a recognized need to attract new business to Brampton and this issue is at the forefront of the mayoral race.

Mayoral candidates are criticizing the lack of business development during incumbent Susan Fennell's 10-year tenure as the city's leader. Fennell contends she has laid the groundwork for increased business investment by cutting red tape, implemented Bus rapid transit (Zum) and improving the re-zoning application process. She is also involved in the development of a LRT line along Hurontario Street.

The candidate who prevails in the forthcoming elections will preside over the city as it undergoes a revitalization project that will expand city hall, improve the central library branch and renew a significant portion of the downtown core.

Caledon

Elected: Marolyn A. Morrison

Over the past year Caledon City Council set out a 10 year-plan for the municipality. A facet of the plan that has received a lot of attention from the two mayoral candidates has to do with a series of population targets for the region.

The current mayor, Marolyn Morrison, is a proponent of phased growth in the municipality, specifically in three areas: Bolton, Caledon East and Mayfield West. Her one and only competitor is Annette Groves, the city councilor from Bolton.

Groves is one of the few councilors opposed to the phased population growth. She says has seen significant number of new businesses move into her ward over the past few years, and believes an increase in population will be required to sustain the developing business community.

Mississauga

Elected: Hazel McCallion

There are 17 candidates vying to become Mississauga's next mayor, although incumbent Hazel McCallion looks to be on track to winning her 12th term.

McCallion, 89, is Canada's oldest mayor and has presided over Mississauga since 1978. This year her bid is overshadowed by a judicial inquiry probing her involvement in a failed $ 14.4-million land deal between the municipality and a development company partly owned by her son, Peter McCallion.

The inquiry is trying to determine if she violated conflict-of-interest guidelines, although McCallion claims she did not give her son any preferential treatment. Results of the inquiry will not be available until after the election.

Mississauga has been debt-free for over 30 years although the city's 2006 financial report indicated the municipality's reserves are depleting, and its books may not be balanced come 2012. The drop in reserves is due in large part to the municipality digging deep to upgrade an aging infrastructure and a drop-off in suburban growth. In the 1980s and 1990s developers typically bore the cost of constructing the basic infrastructure in sprawling communities, like laying down roads and constructing sewage and water distribution systems.

Now the responsibility of maintaining the infrastructure is falling into the lap of the municipality. A tax hike is likely in store for the city in order to maintain Mississauga's debt-free status.