The Ontario Municipal Board has approved a plan for two Yorkville towers that will be visible above the Ontario Legislative Assembly when viewed south of College Street on University Avenue, thus altering the vista of our provincial building. 

Once again the OMB has decided to take heritage related planning into its own hands. It is nothing short of a mystery as to why this can happen when the Ontario Provincial Policy Statement clearly states "Significant built heritage resources and significant cultural heritage landscapes shall be conserved."

If the view corridor and vista of Ontario's legislative buildings is not a significant cultural landscape, then what is? A very important loop hole in this process is that the City of Toronto failed to provide formal recognition of the Ontario Legislature with protection under the Ontario Heritage Act. This oversight, if it can be called that, was noted at the hearing by the presiding board member. There have been a number of failures in the heritage conservation process here, but much of it lies at the heart of the problem being the lack of resources at the municipal level to really understand what cultural heritage resources we have and put into action the process to protect and preserve.

Perhaps this is a timely piece. We are entering a municipal election in October and there is hope, which is all we have, that a new Council will provide the direction and resources so that all of our cultural heritage resources are fully recognized and protected. We have the tools, the legislation, and the right staff to do the job, they just need some funding to get it done.

For more details on this ruling please click here.