So does this confirm absolutely that Stellantis is done? This is not them having said, we're going and we're going to try and find a way to keep them, they're done?

Well, I hope not, but it doesn't look positive.

And what I'd say is I still believe we need to hold Stellantis to their obligations.

They signed production incentive agreements where they took billions of dollars from taxpayers to build product in Brampton and Windsor, and they're reneging on that.

And I think it's why they're probably keen to sell.

They want to get off the hook for what they owe Canadian taxpayers.

But I don't think that conversation and the...

But also, you know, it's confirming that it's kind of a Chinese automaking invasion.

What are you worried about?

Yeah, I'm concerned for both the prosperity of American families and businesses and Canadian families and businesses.

Right now, we have Fortress North America.

We've built great products together for 120 plus years.

In my community, we've built cars with an American company, Stellantis, and its precursors.

And that is very fragile right now.

Right now, if you drive on any street in Canada, they're generally North American-made cars.

Do you believe that to be true?

What are you worried about?

Yeah, you know, I'm concerned for both the prosperity of American families and businesses and Canadian families and businesses.

Right now, we have Fortress North America.

We've built great products together for 120 plus years.

In my community, we've built cars, an American company, Stellantis, and its precursors.

uh and you know that is very fragile right now you know right now if you drive on any street in canada they're generally north american-made cars it's the dominant market share and you go to europe it's not the case obviously there's european cars asian cars and i i think the competitive advantage we have could be lost with this economic chaos these These tariffs, as the great Californian Ronald Reagan said, tariffs are taxes.

They make us less competitive.

Do you believe that to be true?

Mm-hmm.

We went to the province in areas of, uh, judicial resources, um, for more crown attorneys, more judges, uh, more correctional facilities, and spoke to the province about their responsibilities.

But on the bail reform legislation, we went to the federal government and lobbied, and lobbied, and lobbied.

And I would say initially under the Trudeau government, we didn't feel like we were having traction.

There was almost a philosophical opposition to concerns we were raising.

I started my lobbying campaign over five years ago when we had the tragedy of Darien Henderson-Bellavia.

Uh, her life was taken from her by someone who was released five times on bail.

But is there-

And it isn't just about staying the course, but it is in some respects.

Yeah, you know, I like to say we're in the midst of the big Brampton bill that's over $8 billion in government commitments.

And a lot of these projects are either in construction or beginning or in some cases like the medical school complete.

And as you know, you know, You need to stay on them.

There's always delays.

There's always complications.

And we need that steady hand and focused determination to make sure we realize these projects that are transformational for the city.

Is that going to be something that you're going to have more to say about over the course of the campaign?

Why are we doing the same stuff?" Is that fair?

Well, I, uh, I think Donald Trump would be a very difficult person to negotiate with because there's no reason.

There's no logic.

You know, whether it's blaming Canada, um, for, uh, wildfires, or frankly, at the beginning of this presidency, he blamed us for the flow of drugs into the US not realizing or not even understanding from his own security reports where it was coming from.

A- and so, um, I, I don't have any faith that logic will win the day, and frankly, he's been erratic with Mexico.

He's been er- erratic with his European, uh, trade partners as well.

And so unfortunately, uh, I- I just don't think you can negotiate with someone that is, that is this erratic a- and temperamental.

Right

And so you put out a press release indicating that there's an explanation for this as to why Mississauga pays more, and maybe you might want to just offer that to the listeners.

Well, I think one of the reasons we're having a competitive mayor election in Mississauga is the ongoing anti-police rhetoric we've heard coming out by some in Mississauga.

I think it's unfortunate because I think for a long time we had a consensus that we've got a great police force and we support them, give them the tools to do their job.

They run towards danger when everyone else gets to run away.

In terms of MPAC, which is the police funding formula for assessment, it's the same for every big city in Ontario.

As you know, John, when you were in Toronto, You know, how a property is assessed in Scarborough versus Rosedale has been the same way for a long time, and the province isn't about to change it.

What I found frustrating about those comments about policing is 62% of the Peel Regional Police staff are in Mississauga, and they pay 62% of the bill.

Have you had a chance to take this up? Because she clearly seems to be quite wound up about this.

Is that, is that feasible, or would someone right away scream, "You can't discriminate and make somebody pay a higher property tax on a, on a similar size property because of the landlord," or can you?

Well, I'm really intrigued by this proposal by Councilor Santos.

Uh, she's on the FCM board for Canada, and while she was at the FCM conference, she learned this was something they did in Edmonton.

So the city of Edmonton does this.

So if someone has a property with, um, 15 individuals living in the basement and their property is in complete disrepair and the city has to come constantly to deal with bylaw issues, that property pays the same taxes a- as the senior citizen with two people living next door.

And so it doesn't seem equitable.

Having said that, right now under the Ontario Municipal Act, we're not allowed to create new property tax classifications, so it's not permitted in Ontario.

Mm-hmm.

So how do you feel when y- when you see Canadians booing the US flag or the anthem?

Well, I'm not a fan of Donald Trump, but I believe when you boo the American anthem, you give a gift to Donald Trump.

He has tried to manufacture, uh, um, a, a disagreement, um, animosity between Canadians and Americans that, that does not exist.

By and large, the majority of Americans are against, uh, Trump's tariffs on Canada.

Uh, the majority of, I can tell you, the, um, the mayors in, in the, in the US came out and voted saying they're against it.

The general public, by virtue of polls, are against his attack on Canadians.

Um, it is an unpopular administration that will hopefully lose political ground in the midterms very shortly.

Yeah, and, uh, to your point about how this might play there, this was covered, the boos on Friday, covered on MSN, on Newsweek, of course on Fox, criticized by one of the Fox hosts in a, a post maybe on X. D- that must make you worried when you see or hear that, uh, that those boos are getting covered that way in the United States.

So how do you feel when you see Canadians booing the U.S. flag or the anthem?

Well, I'm not a fan of Donald Trump, but I believe when you boo the American anthem, you give a gift to Donald Trump.

He has tried to manufacture a disagreement, animosity between Canadians and Americans that does not exist.

By and large, the majority of Americans are against Trump's tariffs on Canada.

The majority of, I can tell you, the mayors in the U.S. came out and voted, saying they're against it.

The general public, by virtue of polls, are against his attack on Canadians.

It is an unpopular administration that will hopefully lose political ground in the midterms very shortly.

That must make you worried when you see or hear that those booze are getting covered that way in the United States.

What do they do?

Well, criminal organizations hate cameras.

And let me tell you the genesis behind this.

Eight years ago when I was elected mayor, we had a number of high profile shootings on the 403 and the 410.

And I asked the chief, how come there was no shootings on the 407? And he said, because there's cameras.

organized crime knows where there's cameras.

Ever since we put cameras on the 403 and the 410 at the on-ramps and the exit ramps, we haven't had any shootings.

Where would you update concern about organized crime, gangs like the Bishnoi gang in Brampton and Peel? I appreciate

C- could you make the case, could I make the case that some of that, as we were talking about, was too fast, and there's still things you're trying to catch up on, hospitals, transit, and the like?

Well, s- certainly.

The population growth has been, um, explosive, uh, to the point that we've struggled to keep up, um, with the investments to maintain the quality of life.

Um, and obviously healthcare is funded provincially.

We've got a commitment for a s- second hospital.

The construction starts this year.

But we probably need a third hospital.

Okay.