Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario

Executive Chair’s Report

As we conclude our fiscal year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the public, the appointees, the representatives of stakeholders and the staff at ELTO for their support and willingness to talk to me about improving ELTO. Our intention at ELTO is to build our competencies and processes to fulfill the mandates entrusted to us in accordance with our mission statement.

We are trying hard to build a more transparent organization. We have undertaken and continue to undertake training in decision-writing in accordance with best practices. In addition, we have published information on requests for review of OMB decisions received in 2011 since I came here under Section 43 of the Ontario Municipal Board Act where parties disagree with the outcome of a hearing. This information is being updated on the website monthly. We are also working towards publication of statistics on the cluster’s workload and on compliance with the requirements of the Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act, 2009.

We are seeking input on rules amendments for the Assessment Review Board on orders for costs pursuant to power under the Statutory Powers Procedure Act and we will be moving forward in our consultation process concerning reducing in-person hearing time for all of the Constituent Tribunals. We will be using alternative hearing formats (such as teleconference, videoconference and written hearings) and alternative dispute resolution processes to narrow through rule amendments. Our goal is to achieve a more cost-efficient and timely adjudication process and we have already had some experience in utilizing some of these techniques. The discussions with stakeholders and parties already undertaken will be continuing.

At the time I am writing this we are undertaking a competition for appointment of new members to the OMB and the other tribunals in ELTO, and I thank everyone who has considered participating in this competition for doing so.

Lynda Tanaka

March 2012