There was discussion as to whether it had outlived its usefulness as a planning review tribunal, as "it does little that could not be done by local decision makers". On October 7, 2008, City of Toronto councillors representing the former city of North York voted to name a lane "OMB Folly" in the area where the OMB, against the city's wishes, approved development of a condominium and townhouse complex near a low-density residential area immediately west of North York Centre. However, Council reversed this decision on 26 August 2010. After a controversial 2009 decision approved a community of up to 1,400 homes in the Manotick neighbourhood of Ottawa, Minister of Municipal Affairs Jim Watson was quoted in the local press as stating: "Has the OMB been perfect? No. Can it improve? Yes, I think it can and I am quite prepared to work with the attorney general to try and ensure that the OMB is more reflective of community values [...] I've had a couple of discussions with the attorney general going back a month and we both agree we are going to take a thorough look at the OMB and see how we can further improve it based on changes we made a couple of years ago. We want to see if they've done what we hoped they'd do to bring greater balance to OMB decision-making." On February 6, 2012, Toronto City Council asked the province to free the city from the Ontario Municipal Board's jurisdiction. Council endorsed the proposal in a 34–5 vote. Spearheaded by councillor Josh Matlow, along with councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. Matlow is quoted in the Toronto Star: "We've heard time and time again from our residents that there's an inequitable playing field...Developers simply have a better chance at the OMB because they have the financial resources, the ability to get planners and lawyers, anything they need to be able to argue their case". This proposal should open the door for discussion of the efficiency and justice of the unelected board that controls the majority of Ontario developments. References Further reading External links Ontario Municipal Board Ontario Municipal Board order books (1906-1993), Archives of Ontario 1897 establishments in Ontario 2018 disestablishments in Ontario Urban planning in Canada Local government in Ontario Ontario government tribunals Construction in Canada Government agencies established in 1897 Government agencies disestablished in 2018