Resources, Articles, & Advocacy
Advocacy | May 16, 2025
Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of May 12
Province Tables Tariff-Era Budget: The Ford government plans to run a substantial deficit of almost $15 billion and spend more than $230 billion this year. On Thursday, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy presented the government’s 2025 budget, a document dominated by the tariff response and how it will impact the economy.
Advocacy | May 16, 2025
OBA Update - Budget 2025
On Thursday, May 15, 2025, the government tabled A Plan to Protect Ontario, the 2025 provincial budget
Legislative Update | May 09, 2025
Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of May 5
Province Files Appeal Against Injunction Halting Bike Lane Removal: Weeks after being ordered to pause plans to remove bike lanes from three major streets in Toronto, the Ford government says it is filing an appeal against the injunction.
Article | May 07, 2025
The Planning Act and the Duty to Consult First Nations Communities after Galibier Materials Inc. v. Springwater (Township)
Galibier Materials Inc. v. Springwater (Township) establishes a potentially destabilizing precedent for Ontario’s planning regime respecting the duty to consult under section 35 of the Constitution Act. Galibier effectively opens the door to any indigenous or other advocacy group to come forward in any hearing, no matter how large or small, to claim that they represent interests that are potentially impacted by a proposal. The decision raises questions about the sufficiency of existing regulations to meet the duty to consult, and the role of advocacy organizations in representing First Nations interests.
Article | May 07, 2025
Case Summary: Huether v Sharpe, 2025 ONCA 140
The Court of Appeal case, Huether v Sharpe, 2025 ONCA 140, reversed a lower court ruling that had imposed an indefinite and ongoing "duty to monitor" upon municipalities until and unless a permit file had been “closed” (a term that does not even exist in the relevant legislative scheme). The Court of Appeal’s decision alleviates the requirement that a municipality must unduly search historic building files to confirm that permits were in fact formally closed, that were treated as closed.
Legislative Update | May 02, 2025
Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of April 28
Province Proposes Plan to Get ‘Tough on Crime’: The Ontario government is proposing changes to the bail system that it says will protect communities by keeping violent repeat offenders off the streets and behind bars.
