Toronto City Councillor
Ward 25 Don Valley West

Over the last decade, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has made a pattern of decisions that have weakened the stable residential neighbourhoods of Toronto. In Ward 25, the OMB ruled to permit a severance on Lawrence Avenue East, creating two lots with very small frontages not in character with the surrounding community. More recently, it permitted what is essentially an apartment building within two semi-detached homes on Golfdale Avenue. Both decisions could have severe precedent-setting effects for nearby (and even more distant) homeowners.

As an unelected body with draconian power, the OMB has overturned many local decisions favouring stable communities and has been observed to tilt very strongly in favour of development. This caused so much concern that it became an issue in the last provincial election in 2003. The Liberal Government was elected, in part, on a pledge to reform the OMB.

Seeing negligible reform in two years, I helped organize a group of seven City Councillors to go to Queen’s Park to urge Government MPPs to move quickly and decisively on OMB Reform. George Milbrandt and Peter Baker, co-chairs of FoNTRA (Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations), attended as well and renewed their proposals for OMB Reform supported by their member organizations representing over 100,000 voters.

Although received courteously and sympathetically by MPP Kathleen Wynne and her colleagues, we were given no assurances on the substance or timing of OMB Reform. We have recently requested a follow-up meeting with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. If you are concerned about this issue (and I believe you should be), I encourage you to add your voice requesting urgent action by the provincial government. Ultimately, the quality of life in Toronto’s residential communities is at stake.