Toronto city council asks to leave the OMB; developers aren’t into it

Buried under the talk of the city’s transit battle is news that city councillors asked the province to exempt Toronto from the Ontario Municipal Board’s jurisdiction (in case you aren’t familiar with the OMB, the Toronto Star describes it thusly: “a quasi-judicial board, which hears appeals of zoning decisions and frequently overturns council”). Because its members are appointed by the Ontario cabinet rather than elected by the people, criticism of the OMB often revolves around accusations that it’s anti-democratic and that its rulings typically favour large developers. Case in point: yesterday at council, Josh Matlow called the OMB “unaccountable” and Mary-Margaret McMahon said it “skewed toward the developer.” Naturally, the Building Industry and Land Development Association thinks otherwise. Read the entire story [National Post] »