Day Three of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into City Council’s new Ward Boundaries is underway.
Today, the City will continue to present its case to the Board. The day beings with Dr. Bill Freeman on the stand for the City to provide testimony on history and sociology of Hamilton.
Catch up Thursday’s liveblog and Friday’s liveblog.
Follow along with our liveblog below.
OMB panel
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) members deciding this case are Dr. Bruce Krushelnicki and Paula Boutis. Krushelnicki is the Executive Chairman of the Environmental and Land Tribunals of Ontario, and is therefore the highest ranking member of the OMB.
City of Hamilton Legal Counsel
City Council retained outside legal counsel for the hearing as the Council voted to not accept the recommendations of professional experts Watson & Associates, instead creating their own boundaries as a Council.
The outside Counsel for the Council are Steven Ferri, partner at Loopstra Nixon LLP and, Cindy Yi, as associate at the firm.
Appellant
Two private citizens have appealed the Council’s new self-created ward boundaries. Mark Richardson and the City of Hamilton reached a settlement, Richardson is no longer an active appellant.
Robert Dobrucki is self-representing, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and a lawyer by trade, he is appealing as a private citizen. (Dobrucki was a guest on The Public Record Radio Show in October 2016 on the topic of ward boundaries)