I am adamantly opposed to…

I am adamantly opposed to the provisions in Bill 108 that would reinstate the Ontario Municipal Board. The OMB was (and if Bill 108 is passed unmodified, will again be) an unelected body consisting of members unknown to the general public that repeatedly and routinely overturned well-thought out local planning decisions and completely disregarded the justified concerns and reasonable wishes of residents' associations, and of residents themselves. It seems to function as a rubber stamp to approve anything developers want, meaning their own self-enrichment, over the public good. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal set up by the previous government was a big improvement over the OMB, and should be allowed to continue to function as envisaged in Bill 139, without oversight or interference by a resurrected OMB. I say this as a lifelong Conservative voter and someone who did not support anything else the Wynne government did.

I am also opposed to the proposed shortening of the development approval process to 90 days. That is simply not enough time for a well-thought out planning, public comment, and appeals process. The shorter approval process is being touted as a means to achieve greater efficiency, but in reality, it will result in projects being railroaded into existence without adequate thought, oversight, and debated.

I strongly urge the government to amend its ill-considered proposals.