Renowned Planner Jennifer Keesmaat to Give Expert Evidence in Windsor Mega-Hospital Legal Appeal

Decisions by Windsor City Council to locate a proposed new single site acute care hospital on greenfield lands and to permit residential and commercial development of a further 1,000 acres of prime agricultural lands have recently been appealed to Ontario’s Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). Internationally-renowned planner Jennifer Keesmaat is now raising major concerns. The appeal was initiated by Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process (CAMPP). Ms. Keesmaat will be giving evidence as an independent expert witness supporting the appellant’s case. Amongst other qualifications, Ms. Keesmaat is the former Chief Planner of the City of Toronto, a recipient of the Canadian Institute of Planners’ highest Presidents Award, and member of the International Panel of Experts, Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority. “[S]prawling land use planning has implications …” Keesmaat states, adding that “directing growth to existing serviced areas prior to building new infrastructure is the foundation of the responsible use of land in the [Provincial Policy Statement].” Keesmaat also states: “Conformity to existing policy is not suggested, it is required.” “Having just completed five years as Chief Planner of Canada’s largest city, Ms. Keesmaat is one of the nation’s foremost planning experts. She is highly knowledgeable on how responsible city-building should take place. She has a unique and unparalleled understanding of how both officials plans and provincial policy are to be interpreted and applied” says Eric Gillespie, a leading municipal and environmental lawyer based in Toronto retained by CAMPP. He has been counsel in many precedent-setting legal challenges including the Walkerton Water Inquiry, as well as Canada’s largest environmental class-action (Pearson/Smith v. Inco) and the ongoing G20 class action up to the Supreme Court of Canada. “This appears to be a case where the City has chosen not to follow its own fundamental policies and those of the Province. The evidence of one of Canada’s top planners, Ms. Keesmaat, and others will address these errors.” A case management conference is scheduled for March 20, 2019, in Windsor.