A Law Unto Itself: How the Ontario Municipal Board Has Developed and Applied Land Use Planning Policy

Gordon C. Shaw is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Administrative
Studies at York University.

A Law Unto Itself describes the history and operations of the Ontario
Municipal Board (OMB) and argues that it has become an anachronism with
respect to its role as a planning appeal tribunal.

In 1906, the Ontario government created the Ontario Railway and
Municipal Board to settle disputes between the various municipalities
and the privately owned electric street railways. The benefits were
twofold: politicians were able to avoid entanglement in utility-related
disputes (which were often local and technical in nature), and the need
for time-consuming and costly dispute-resolution methods was removed.

In the 1930s, the financial problems of many municipalities led to the
Board—by then the OMB—increasing its jurisdiction over municipal
affairs and land-use planning decisions, with the latter becoming the
principal OMB concern. Subsequent chapters show how the OMB became a
policymaker in a “public policy vacuum,” and how the conduct of its
hearings became increasingly judicial in nature, with opposing lawyers
presenting cases. In other words, the OMB became the dispute mechanism
that it had been established to avoid.

The author is hopeful that political pressure will soon reduce the
OMB’s planning review mandate. His book is well written, with copious
notes and a good index. It is highly recommended for anyone interested
in planning and development in Ontario.