Please Join Us at the OMB, 655 Bay St., on Wednesday May 21st and Thursday May 22nd at 10:00am to show Smart!Centres and Vice Chair McKenzie that this community does not need or want a Mega-Shopping Centre.

OMB Smart!Centre Hearings
Wednesday & Thursday, 2008 May 21 & 22, 10 am
Ontario Municipal Board, 655 Bay St

Here is a brief outline, from the City’s lawyer, as to how the hearing will proceed….     Read more »

The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is an arms-length judiciary that handles land use disputes between municipalities and people and businesses. Its decisions are often controversial since it has the power to over-rule decisions made by elected municipal councils and if often does over-ride those decisions. Of course any organization, elected or unelected, can make bad decisions, but democracy is flaunted when an appointed body can overrule elected politicians.

The existence of the OMB goes against the core Green Party principles of democracy and decentralization.     Read more »

Thanks to Rebecca Renwick for bringing this to my attention.

The East Toronto Community Coalition is encouraging everyone to write to Ontario’s minister of Municipal Affairs, the Honourable Jim Watson, to request that the Province intercede in the Eastern Avenue SmartCentre proposal.  Please see a sample letter here.

NOTE THE RESCHEDULED DATE BELOW

On May 21 and 22 at 10 am, the Ontario Municipal Board will begin hearings into what may turn out to be a Wal-Mart on the Portlands.  The East Toronto Community Coalition is one of the key groups fighting the proposal.  To get involved, contact Kelly Carmichael.

The Toronto-Danforth Federal Green Party Association opposes the proposed SmartCentres development on Eastern Avenue at the former site of Toronto Film Studios.  We support the East Toronto Community Coalition in its efforts to promote an alternative that enhances the existing community and acts as a gateway, rather than a barrier, to the Portlands.     Read more »

The East Toronto Community Coalition
Thursday, 2008 January 3, 6:30 pm
Ralph Thorton Centre

We are looking for volunteers to help with the documentary screening of Wal-Mart Nation.

Additionally, we will be finalizing a “community vision questionnaire”.

If you would like to get involved, please join us!