Province fires three Waterfront Toronto board members after Google deal

Thestar.com
December 7, 2018
David Rider

The Doug Ford government has fired the chair of Waterfront Toronto and two other board members one day after the provincial auditor general criticized the agency over the Quayside project and more.

Helen Burstyn told the Star provincial Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton called her around 9 p.m. Thursday, telling the chairwoman she was no longer on the board of the provincial-federal-city agency, and that he was also firing the other provincial board appointees -- Meric Gertler and Michael Nobrega.

Waterfront Toronto chair Helen Burstyn confirmed Thursday that she and two board members have been removed from the board.

“He didn’t offer a reason but one can reasonably assume it is related to the auditor general’s report,” Burtsyn said.

The move sets the stage for a major shift in the agency that will help determine the fate of Toronto’s waterfront, including the sprawling Port Lands, former industrial lands primarily owned by the City of Toronto being unlocked for development by $1.25 billion in flood protection cost-shared by the three levels of government.

Ford has declared Ontario is “Open for business” and, while a city councillor from 2010 to 2014, pushed for quicker development of the Port Lands, possibly including a mall, casino, hotel and Ferris wheel.

His government will appoint three new members to the board. The chair can be chosen by agreement of the three levels of government or, as with Liberal appointee Burstyn, by a vote of the board itself.

In a report released Wednesday, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk launched stinging criticism at Waterfront Toronto and Manhattan-based Sidewalk Labs over the Google sister company’s bid to develop a trailblazing high-tech test-bed neighbourhood on a 4.8-hectare parcel of land near Queens Quay E. and Parliament St.

Burstyn said she and the board accepted the auditor general’s recommendations for improvements moving forward but disagreed with some of her findings.

She agreed with Lysyk that the Waterfront Toronto structure provides some structural barriers to being effective but said “over the past 15 years Waterfront Toronto has done an amazing job,” with projects including Sugar Beach and the Queens Quay redevelopment.

“We have developed over 290 acres of waterfront,” she said.

Getting the three governments to commit to the pricey floodproofing, that includes a “renaturalization” of the mouth of the Don River and creation of a new river valley, has unlocked the Port Lands for hugely valuable development that will benefit the city and the province, Burstyn added.

Asked if there is danger to the agency’s mission if the new appointees push it to give the private sector a bigger say in plans, and rush to develop lands, Burstyn chose her words carefully.

“There is a risk -- Waterfront Toronto has been very careful and deliberate over 15 years of planning on behalf of residents and taxpayers,” she said. “It has been a very democratic process and produced excellent results.

“There’s a question mark going forward. If you accelerate the sale of the land, the way the province sold the Hearn, I don’t think that bodes well for the future of the waterfront that we aspire to and that people deserve.”

Waterfront Toronto itself controls only a small segment of land including the Quayside. Most of the 800-acre Port Lands are owned by the City of Toronto. Ford and Mayor John Tory met behind closed doors on Thursday and waterfront development was one of the topics they discussed.

With the firing of three members of the 12-member board, the Nov. 30 end of the term of Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, and the resignation of another member, seven board members remain. Three are City of Toronto citizen appointees while four were chosen by the federal government.

Burstyn’s term on the board was to expire in February. She said she believes most or all of the other appointments will also expire in 2019.