“Doug Ford is dismantling a service meant to help citizens and municipalities stand up to developers — a move critics are calling a blow to local democracy.
The Local Planning Appeal Support Centre (LPASC) was set up in April 2018 under the previous Liberal government to help everyday Ontarians navigate and understand the complex planning appeals process to fight development projects that were inappropriate, unreasonable, misplaced or designed without considering municipal and provincial planning and growth guidelines.
It was created as part of a series of reforms to the Ontario Municipal Board, which, critics said, was too slow and favoured municipalities and developers, as they can afford the cost of lawyers and experts in the development appeal process. The OMB was also criticized for not deferring to local municipalities.
The LPASC received word this week that it must close its doors by June 30. It told clients and stakeholders in a statement Thursday.
"It is disappointing," Mary Lee, executive director of the LPASC, said. "This new process was about giving more accountability to municipalities and to give everybody a voice in land-use planning decision....There was a lot of work to do in the centre and it was of real value to the citizens of Ontario."
In a statement to National Observer, Brian Gray, a spokesperson for Ontario Attorney General Caroline Mulroney, said they had "to make difficult decisions about programs across the province," including winding down the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre by summer.
"Recent reforms to the land use planning and appeal system give greater weight to the decisions of local communities, while balancing development and growth in Ontario," Gray wrote. "This will ensure people and neighbourhood associations have a stronger voice in development decisions."
But critics say the decision is a step backwards and shifts power back to developers.
In a statement, Ontario NDP MPP Jeff Burch said the Ford government's decision was yet another in a long list of decisions that favoured the premier's friends. Burch said that by shutting the centre down, the Conservatives were "making things even worse for folks by stacking the deck against them, giving easier wins to powerful developers."
"This is only going to make it harder for everyday Ontarians to protect their quality of life when developers try to take advantage of people to pad their already-deep pockets," he added. "Everyday Ontarians deserve to have a say in how their communities grow."
To many it wasn't a surprise. During his election campaign, Ford promised to find a way to increase land supply, despite the fact that the provincial growth plan had allocated land for development. He has twice tried to open the province's protected greenbelt for development, and has backtracked in the face of public outrage.
Toronto City Councilor Mike Layton said shutting down the LPASC is another "bold-faced favouring of developers."
In an interview, Layton said, the government "has cut the legs from under the communities that try to appeal developments and disempowered them."” - Fatima Syed, “Doug Ford shuts service that helps Ontario citizens fight wealthy developers.” Canada’s National Observer. February 22, 2019.














