Mayor Meed Ward’s contempt for the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) goes back several years to when they were called the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). The basis for her position is basically that municipalities, and Burlington in particular, should have unfettered authority of all planning and development approvals.

She has also stated in Canada, Ontario is the only province to have an OMB/OLT process of dispute resolution. That of course is incorrect, several other provinces have versions of the OLT dispute resolution process.

In New Brunswick, they have the Assessment and Planning Appeal Board (APAB): https://www2.gnb.ca/…/assessment_planningappealboard.html; Saskatchewan: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/…/file-a-planning-appeal…;
Nova Scotia: https://nsuarb.novascotia.ca/mandates/planning/.

The Ontario Land Tribunal does much more than only consider planning related matters. As noted on the government’s website, “the Ontario Land Tribunal adjudicates matters related to land use planning, environmental and natural features and heritage protection, land valuation, land compensation, municipal finance, and related matters.”

This week, the mayor’s contempt was front and centre as she sounded off about the recent OLT decision to approve a 29-storey development at the corner of Pearl Street and Lakeshore Rd. in downtown Burlington. She took to the television media with a mix of misinformation and selective comments, resembling something we often see on broadcasts from our neighbors south of the border.

Mayor Meed Ward and Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kerns posted a joint letter stating in part: “This is a devastating and shocking decision imposed on our community, which completely disregards the vision of residents, council and staff for this area. And so, Council will be examining all of our options for a review of this OLT decision.”

Following their joint letter, social media exploded with mixed comments and emotion. Clearly, however, the mayor and the councillor did not receive the overwhelming support they envisioned and most likely were hoping to get. Some comments even venture to blame the provincial government for the decision. One commentator wrote, “Vote out the gang in the provincial government, or this type of thing will keep happening;” another wrote, “I’m appalled and disgusted by the province.” One comment even questioned the priorities of the mayor and councillor: “We live in a country where construction of housing is “shocking and devastating” but homelessness isn’t.”

All this is far from new in Burlington, as the Tribunal was established province-wide over 100 years ago. However, placing blame on the Ontario Land Tribunal and the provincial government is misplaced.

The Ontario Land Tribunal is the independent body that hears disputes regarding development. There are those that claim that they are politically controlled; however, we have never seen any evidence to substantiate those claims. In fact, the Tribunal is within the Ministry of the Attorney General, not Municipal Affairs and Housing. An attack on the Tribunal is an attack on natural justice and fundamental rules of law that apply to all of us.

The recent approval of the 29-storey Pearl and Lakeshore development and the 2018 approval of the 26-storey 374 Martha St. development are clear examples of the OLT’s and OMB’s independence of politics.

Many will remember the ADI 374 Martha St. development of 26 storeys (currently under construction) was the controversy of the day. It was approved while the Ontario Liberal Party of Kathleen Wynne formed the government, and the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was the avenue to resolve development disputes.

The recent Pearl and Lakeshore approval was made by the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) the successors of the OMB, with a Conservative Party government in control.

The block from Martha St. to Pearl St. along Lakeshore will contain a 26-storey development, approved during a Liberal administration and a 29-storey building with the Conservatives at the helm.

Clearly, blaming the provincial government and rhetoric about the OMB/OLT being politically controlled is more about disagreement with development decisions and political theatre than it is based in facts or reality.

Blaming others to make yourself look good may be Politics 101 but, at what cost?