Day Six of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into Council’s new ward boundaries will see appellant Robert Dobrucki on the stand to give his testimony and evidence in the matter at the start of the day.
Following this, Land Use and Planning Expert Gary Scandlan will return to the stand for cross-examination by Dobrucki. The OMB panel choose to have cross later in the hearing to give Scanlan the opportunity to hear Dobrucki’s evidence before being cross-examined in part based upon that evidence.
This afternoon, if the cross is completed, Dobrucki will be cross-examined by the City’s lawyer Steve Ferri.
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, with Brendan Ruddick and Cindy Yi, both associates 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)