Undemocratic OMB has no place in a democratic state
By Andrew Knowles
The Ontario municipal board or the OMB, is the only institution in Canada which handles civil services that does not have officials publicly elected, have staff appointed by elected officials or have staff accountable to the public.
The job of the OMB is to make a final decision on development plans if two or more parties can’t compromise. This may sound great, but let’s look at what is really going on here.
The reputation of the OMB hasn’t been good. An intuition that is supposed to treat all parties equally is hardly doing that. The history of the OMB seems to always favour business men and multi-million dollar developers who have high stakes in transforming a community for mass profit at the expense of the community. It seems that no matter how hard the community fights, they are dismissed and powerless to stop violent changes to their community.
I will paraphrase what real community members are saying about the OMB. “The last OMB Chair I saw seemed to bully the community.” “The OMB chair threatened to kick the community out of the hearing if there was any “crazies” present.” These quotes are from Hamiltonians who have experienced the OMB first hand and are not crazy. Of course this is not every case, but why should we stand for this? Why should an undemocratic institution which is out of touch with communities across Ontario, decide whether a developer who is also out of touch with those communities, transform communities at the community’s expense?
The Chedoke Brow lands community knows this well. It’s time to take a stand for community dignity and rights.
The undemocratic OMB has no place in a democratic state. Let’s abolish it.
(I would like to correct an error in my letter. At the time I wrote this letter, I had misunderstood an article I was referring to when I spoke about the OMB being undemocratic. I said that the OMB staff was not appointed by elected officials. The OMB senior management staff is appointed by elected officials. With this being said, the appointment process is done in a secretive manner and their is no public overview of this process. I would also like to point out that the Senate is another institution like the OMB (another error in my letter). Both a waste of tax payer’s money and an insult to democracy.)
Been following all this garbage ,, especially the recents 2 or3 years ever since the hospital had meetigs 7 or 8 years ago
The OMB certainly does work . ask my son in law when the OMB voted against a plaza in their backyard … what s undemocratic about a chairs desision or a judges or a jury ??
Can you share the author of the statements you allude to ? ever since you supposedly started speaking for your nanna and and the residents,??? your political platform certanly shows. andy , you are just an opportunist who as an outsider eg ,, a non resident just stirs the pot without any solutions… were yiu aware that one ofthe things the developer way back was going to d o was fix was the crss’s lights .?.. well you can bet your student loan that will never happen now.. why would thet after spendingmoney and how about the consultaent and lawyers fees the CITY SPENT defending the resident rewquests.. that would have fixed ten crosses. anyone know the final $$ ?
Sharon ( up the streeT)
one of the silent majority who wants the old buidings torn down for better livung and more taxes for the city
Hi Sharon,
The OMB is functioning, but how it’s functioning is up for debate. Yes there are cases were the OMB has favoured the community or ordinary member(s) of society, but reports of communities getting the smaller hand is wide spread. The very undemocratic practice of the OMB is the fact that the chair is Judge and jury, and the chair is likely unfamiliar with the very community he or she is making hard decisions about.
The statements in my letter are from local residents who I spoke with while petitioning the Chedoke Brow Lands Community. There were actually many more statements that I have that I did not include in my letter due to word count. My Grandmother is a long time resident and lives near the site planned for development. She asked me for help fighting this development and I agreed without a doubt.
You’re right, I am not a resident in the Chedoke Brow lands community, but I have spent my whole life there, so I am very familiar with the character of the community.
The only opportunity I have taken is helping my Grandmother and this community fight for their right to be taken seriously. A 1,146 name petition of opposition to the development was given to the City of Hamilton and a 1,177 name petition was given to the OMB.
I am glad that I have stirred the pot because it brings attention to this issue. The solution of almost 1,200 community residents supports park land in their community and I support them on their decision. At the same time in my opinion, it is reasonable to have some development there, such as a local cafe, restaurant, or a place for the community to meet. I think that a decent park land and a limited development are fair. I made that clear at the OMB hearing. That way the City will get more taxes, the developer benefits and so does the community.
The community has proven that it will not stand by while a “land use planner” makes mass profit at the expense of their community and while having to deal with an unfriendly process.
In terms of the cross, the development plan or plans have undergone so many changes that I think only the “land use planner” would know the true plans.
The City of Hamilton made a mistake by accepting 450 and behind the scenes, in my opinion, they probably would have gone for a lower number. The City of Hamilton was a bit slow to take the community seriously, but eventually made some very important decisions that would favour the community. One of the latest offers that the “land use planner” made was turned down due to a “flooding” of emails and phone calls to Terry Whitehead’s office in opposition to the new proposal by the “land use planner.”
If you’re opposed or not, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and has had plenty of opportunity to express them.
I would like to go back to your original point that the OMB “does work.” If you Google OMB, you will come across lots of articles and expressions of opposition to the OMB. Even Mississauga wants it abolished: http://www.mississauga.com/news/article/1033226–city-wants-omb-abolished
I am sure you are well aware of the City of Mississauga. If you decide to write a negative message, perhaps you should send it from your private IP address instead of from the City of Mississauga.
-Andrew