Articles

It’s a question that many municipalities struggle with: how to increase transparency and maintain citizen confidence in local government. To this end, the City of Ottawa recently implemented a tool rarely used by municipalities in Ontario: it created a mandatory lobbyist registry.

This program, held on December 1, 2011 was designed to have municipal law practitioners discuss some of the ethical issues that are prevalent in the world of municipal law.

Please consider submitting an article for the next issue of the newsletter. We are looking for articles of interest to OBA Municipal Law Section members. Articles can be as short as 300 words, or over 1,000 words. Please send your submissions to stephen.lockwood@ontario.ca.

On October 19, 2011, the OBA Municipal Law Section was pleased to welcome Lynda Tanaka, Executive Chair of the Environmental and Lands Tribunal Ontario to speak about the ELTO and Ontario Municipal Board. 

On February 1st, 2012, Donald Granger retired as a Vice-Chair from the Ontario Municipal Board.

On January 29th, 2012, Toronto City Councillor Joe Mihevc of Ward 21 (St. Paul West) announced that Mayor Rob Ford acted without authority in cancelling Transit City, the public transportation plan advanced by former Mayor David Miller. 

Remarks from The Hon. Peter H. Howden on Receiving the OBA Award for Excellence in Municipal Law.

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, 50 members of the Municipal Law Bar gathered at The Albany Club to pay tribute to The Honourable Peter H. Howden, last year’s winner of the Ontario Bar Association Municipal Law Section’s Award for Excellence in Municipal Law.

Donald Granger sends greetings to the OBA Municipal Law Section one month after his retirement from the OMB.

The title above is not a rhetorical question. Rather, this is a question that recently faced the Ontario Municipal Board in Dorsay Investments Limited and 1666500 Ontario Inc. v. City of Toronto (OMB Case No. PL070048), a case involving a proposed redesignation of lands designated for employment uses to allow a mixed-use development containing a substantial residential component.