The process of managing…

The process of managing development in Ontario is already highly skewed toward the interests of developers. Developers are better funded and better prepared with extensive legal teams than community-based organizations and even municipalities that attempt to resist unwanted and poorly conceived changes to their neighborhoods. Appeals to LPAT are almost unthinkable for most community groups who must 'pass the hat' to fund resistance to well bankrolled corporations.

The Ontario Heritage Act is one of the few cost-effective tools that communities and community organizations have to defend the fabric of our neighborhoods and inventories of heritage buildings from the interests of corporate shareholders. Certainly, effective application of the Ontario Heritage Act have seen some spectacular successes across the province, creating more livable spaces, and stabilizing property values. The proposed changes to the Ontario Heritage Act will provide yet another tool for non-community groups to out-spend their opponents into getting their way.

Adding the assessment of heritage-designation to the duties to LPAT would presumably require a great deal more training, knowledge and expertise in the portfolio of the Tribunal, but is the Province willing to pay for that? The new legislation will definitely bring about a great deal more cost to municipalities trying to maintain an inventory of heritage-designated properties given the inevitable onslaught of challenges to Municipal efforts for rational development and protection of their assets for future generations.

Most of us want livable communities. The only requirement of development corporations is for profit to their shareholders. Please do not take away some of the only tools municipalities have for creating and maintaining livable communities.