Mississauga mayoral by-election candidate to collect severance pay

A Mississauga city councillor, who recently left her seat to run for mayor, will now be getting a taxpayer-funded cheque for thousands of dollars.

Long-time councillor Carolyn Parrish, who took over the Ward 5 seat from Bonnie Crombie in 2014, has said she’s leaving her position at City Hall while she runs for the top job “on a matter of principle.”

But her council resignation will see her pocket just over $63,000 in taxpayer money.

Under Mississauga’s municipal code, members of council are eligible for severance “upon retirement, resignation or … failure to be re-elected,” which means Parrish can collect her severance cheque even before a potential byelection win.

The lump sum payment is equal to eight months base salary since she previously received four months severance when she lost the 2010 election. Parrish, a veteran politician, also receives a taxpayer-funded Member of Parliament pension.

“The safety net I don’t have is returning to council to a job that I love,” Parrish told CityNews after declining an interview request. “I’m sacrificing a lot should I lose this race… Had I not resigned, I would be drawing pay every month as the other candidates are.”

Three other sitting councillors have also thrown their hat into the mayor’s race: Stephen Dasko, Alvin Tedjo and Dipika Damerla.

“It is an open question as to [if] those who are seeking the mayoral post are actually working as much as they would have if they were strictly councillors,” said Jay Goldberg with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It is a debatable question, but I think if anyone wants to stay on council while they’re running for this position, they should absolutely be doing work each and every day to be earning that paycheque.”

The taxpayers’ federation is calling on municipalities to revisit severance pay policies, which fellow Mississauga mayoral candidate Peter McCallion described as a loophole he accused Parrish of using to cash out.

“It’s problematic because in the private sector, when you quit and you get a severance package, you don’t get a chance to go back to work for the same company again,” McCallion told CityNews. “That’s not right for the taxpayers of Mississauga.”

McCallion is the son of former mayor Hazel McCallion, a long-standing political rival of Parrish.

Dipika Damerla, a councillor and mayoral candidate as well, also criticized Parrish for taking the severance. “Mississauga’s next mayor will need not just the legal power but also the moral authority to lead council to deliver on these opportunities and challenges.”

She isn’t the first to take severance pay. The practice also raised questions at Toronto City Hall in July 2023, following a more than $120,000 payout to Councillor Gary Crawford who resigned on the eve of a provincial byelection he was running in.

“In elected politics, there shouldn’t be a situation where we’re paying out tens and tens of thousands of dollars to politicians because they are no longer in office,” Goldberg said. “You serve at the pleasure of the voters so I don’t think there should be severance at all but certainly not in a situation like this.”

A by-election to fill Parish’s vacancy in Ward 5 will take place on June 10, the same date Mississauga voters head to the polls to pick their next mayor.