Article
Matthew Owen-King et al
Despite recent amendments, there remains an oddity in the formulation of the Ontario expropriation legislation that appears to restrict the public’s access to an integral element of the expropriation process. Namely, the Inquiry Officer’s written Report following a Hearing of Necessity continues to be considered as part of the political process of approval for an expropriation, without express rights for the public to access the decision. As such, Hearings of Necessity and Inquiry Officer Reports are not made open to the public despite the fact that they are a part of the publicly-funded, statutorily-mandated process that is intended to be an independent assessment of the balance between a community’s larger public interest needs with the rights of affected individuals.