Meeting with Dr. Krushelnicki about OMB Reform
By Don Kerr, Director, and member of WAG Committee
Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki is the new Executive Chair of Environment & Land Tribunals Ontario (ELTO) that includes responsibility for the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). A few of us from the WAG committee met with him on April 7 in Toronto to review our continuing concerns about the OMB role in land use planning. We reviewed our experience with the ELTO tribunals over the past 13 years. We commented on the need for specific revisions to the OMB rules as well as the Planning Act, Growth Plan and Municipal Act. It was a very useful meeting for us to prepare for the upcoming review of the OMB that will be conducted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. His reactions and comments were helpful. He complimented the Watershed Trust on being one of the more responsible environmental organizations — qualified and active in the land use planning process.