HALDIMAND—Last week, Haldimand Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady turned some heads at Queen’s Park with a fiery, accusatory set of questions about the appointment of former Haldimand mayor Ken Hewitt to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).
“This is a tribunal meant to protect public good. I respectfully ask if the Premier can articulate what skills and qualifications one must possess to be considered an appointee to the OLT,” asked Brady during question period.
Attorney General Doug Downey responded, “The individuals who apply through an open process are evaluated by the Chair of the tribunal…. I don’t want to speak on behalf of the Chair … but I can tell you any mayor of any municipality in this province likely has some exposure to how things work with committees of adjustment and otherwise.… What disqualifies that member?”
Brady replied, “In February 2022 Mr. Hewitt called on this government to dissolve the OLT because it was slowing development.”
In a Haldimand Press article from February 2022 on the matter, Hewitt is quoted as calling the OLT an “extra layer of red tape,” and a “misleading item for many people who think that this is going to be a way of stopping advancement.”
At the time, Council voted in support of a Hewitt-sponsored motion, in conjunction with other mayors across Ontario, calling on the Province to dissolve the tribunal.
Brady also raised the issue of the proposed Nanticoke development, still waiting on a Minister’s Zoning Order to proceed, and the recent situation where a developer bypassed Council for their proposed cottage community in Lowbanks and is now waiting for an OLT hearing to determine if it can proceed.
“It’s difficult not to conclude that the tribunal has been hijacked,” said Brady, citing a 2022 news report which revealed the OLT sided with developers 97% of the time. “Is the OLT in place to protect the public good or is it in place to accelerate development and feather the nest of developers and friends of this government?”
The Press spoke with Brady following the exchange.
“I do it for a good reason. It’s not to go after Ken, it’s to go after the bad behaviour that this government continues to do,” she said.
Brady continued, “It’s okay if you want to appoint Ken Hewitt to something, but why would you want to appoint him to the OLT when he asked to have it dissolved two years ago? In my opinion, that’s not somebody who believes in the mandate of the OLT.”
Brady also questioned the OLT as a whole: “I have a hard time believing that an objective body like that would rule 97% in favour of developers…. We need to be looking at where appointments are going with respect to development issues.”
She added, “We are appointing somebody to a land tribunal that has a history of blessing the development at the Nanticoke Industrial Park.”
Hewitt initially expressed support for the Nanticoke proposal during its unveiling at a Council meeting in February 2022, saying, “I fully support it. This is something that many of us on Council have talked about in the past 12 years, reinvigorating the Nanticoke lands.”
However, during the fall 2022 municipal election, Hewitt took a softer tone, asserting his approach to any proposed development was focused on following the County procedures.
“The public sometimes doesn’t understand that a yellow sign going up on a telephone poll is not the end of the process – it’s the beginning,” said Hewitt in a September 2022 Press interview. “The public want people in this position to have an open mind and explore all options.”
While The Press spoke with Hewitt over the weekend, he was not willing to comment on Brady’s remarks on the record at that time. However, Hewitt has actively engaged with discussions about his appointment on Facebook.
Andrew Quesnel wrote a post in defence of Hewitt, claiming that as a friend Hewitt had confirmed to him he would “never be given a hearing that falls within Haldimand-Norfolk for obvious reasons of conflict” when working with the OLT.
Quesnel’s post took Brady to task for using her platform to “publicly attack a private citizen in a forum where they cannot defend themselves,” while also questioning the appointment of one of Brady’s former partners to a government tribunal and alleging that former MPP Toby Barrett assisted his son-in-law to a “position within the PC party…. If our MPP is so incensed with the appointment of Ken Hewitt, why is she not questioning the very appointments within her own circles?”
That post was shared to local politics groups on Facebook, where it sparked heated discussion. Likewise, numerous re-shares of the Queen’s Park video and words of support from the community popped up on Brady’s personal Facebook page.
Brady herself got into the online discussion, responding to the above accusation regarding her former partner: “If you must know about my personal life, the partner you are referring to was appointed after we parted ways. Think about it: do you think the PC Party would make the partner of the girl who beat their hand picked candidate an appointee?”
Hewitt took the opportunity online to directly address his role with the OLT and how it functions.
“The Ford government recognized that the bureaucratic wheels of certain boards were not turning fast enough. The public was expecting better service, as were we as municipalities. Farmers to builders to homeowners were all caught up in this process,” posted Hewitt, asserting that the previous joint call for the dissolution of the OLT “as it was” may have been beneficial “as today we have a better board in the OLT.”
One poster criticized Hewitt as “pro-development,” saying his placement on the OLT could be “construed as a problem.”
Hewitt responded, “I believe that growth is important in long-term municipal planning. You need development to help manage the future costs that taxpayers are required to pay in property tax. Without some growth taxes annually would be much higher. As for the 97% approvals at the OLT. That is misleading. The adjudicators are obligated to follow the planning act and others prescribed by the government. So, they are only approving what is passed in the legislature. So, blame those, not the OLT.”
Responding to a comment on the futility of municipalities trying to block unwanted developments, given the high likelihood that the OLT will side with the developer in an appeal,
Hewitt said, “The OLT is governed by the Provincial Policy Statement and the Planning Act, Heritage Act, Build More Homes Act, and more, all of which comes out the legislature. They do not get to pick winners or losers. They only can determine if applications meet the criteria or not. If you want the outcomes to change, it is within the realm of the MPPs to vote and change the acts that govern the OLT.”
“We are in the fastest growing part of Canada and growth pressures will continue to occur in our area. We do need the OLT because there are times when entities push the limits and need be checked,” Hewitt concluded. “There are also times when councillors play politics and vote for popularity but not for what is defined in the act. Some may not understand, but just because you do not like the look of some development … does not change the fact that said development will satisfy the current planning act and therefore still get passed.”
