Guessing game: who will be tapped for OMB review?

NRU
Feb. 24, 2016
By Geordie Gordon

Although it is yet to be formally announced, the word is out that the provincial review of the Ontario Municipal Board is anticipated to start later this year. Thoughts are turning to what the shape and scope of the review might be and who might be a member of the review panel. With that in mind, NRU spoke with some likely candidates, people with expertise and ideas about what the review should entail.

Former Kingston mayor Helen Cooper served as OMB chair from 1993 to 1996. She says that it’s about time the review is happening, having written about the need for reform in the time since she was chair, including a paper co-authored in 2004 that provided the provincial government with recommendations on reform. Cooper said the critical issue with the OMB is the de novo aspect of the hearings. She has advocated for the OMB to be turned into an “actual” appeal body, with the assumption that a correct decision had been made by a municipality in the first place. Cooper suggested municipal lawyer George Rust-D’Eye would be a good choice for a panel undertaking the review.

Former Ontario environmental commissioner Gord Miller says the starting point for the review should be recognition of the increased sophistication of the planning environment in Ontario since the board’s inception. Given the high capacity of municipal governments in some parts of the province, Miller questions the need for a body to substitute its decisions for those of the local councils. He did say that it was worth entertaining the idea that there may be some areas of the province where it might be worth retaining the power of the OMB.

“It’s an open question whether we need it in the big cities and in the regional governments,” he said.

Miller said that the panel needed people that understood the tension between big and small municipalities, and would need to have the best interests of the whole province at heart.

While he declined to name any names, Miller said to look to retired public servants as the best candidates to be part of the review. He added that the make-up of the panel would likely boil down to political appointments.

Former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall told NRU that she was glad the City of Toronto had finally decided to set up a local appeal body for committee of adjustment decisions, which could serve as a model for other municipalities. Hall said if the appeal body was a little closer to home, it would hopefully mean that city councils would be more responsible for their decision making and this would result in greater leadership on tough choices.

Hall said the two names that come to mind as being good candidates for a review panel are Urban Land Institute Toronto executive director Richard Joy, and Western University assistant professor Zack Taylor. Hall said that Joy’s experience as a city hall assistant, as well as at Queen’s Park, would make him a worthy candidate for a review panel. Hall added that Joy and Taylor represent a newer generation of urban thinkers, who could provide new perspectives.

Charles Harrick, attorney general between 1995 and 1999, did not offer NRU any thoughts about who might be on a review panel, but said he was a believer in the function of the OMB. Harnick said that it is an important recourse for anyone trying to develop land in Ontario that might otherwise be held up “by the capricious nature of potentially what a municipality may or may not want.” Harnick also said that the review could prove to be a challenge for the government, as it is not the first government that has promised to look at the OMB.

“It’s very difficult to find the balance without taking rights away, and without giving the owners of property some outlet to go to,” he said.

Devine Park partner Patrick Devine told NRU that for him, the ideal panelist would have an understanding of the workings of the OMB from a Toronto perspective. He suggested former Ward 26 Don Valley West councillor John Parker, who would bring a sense of balance, as well as a legal background. Devine also suggested WeirFoulds partner emeritus Michael McQuaid as someone who has appeared before the OMB on a regular basis and understands its day-today workings.

Former Ontario attorney general and chief justice Roy McMurtry said that he has not been familiar with the working of the OMB for some years. McMurtry is currently senior counsel at Hull & Hull. And former attorney general Michael Bryant declined to comment. He serves as the chair of the Ontario Public Accountants Council until February 18, 2018.

The list is not exhaustive. Let us know - who do you think should be on the list of prospective panelists to review the OMB?