Why municipal government is so important in our daily lives

Novae Res Urbis, recognizing the top Municipal Law Firms in Ontario.

Very few people understand the true significance of municipal governance. It literally affects every aspect of our daily lives from access to clean drinking water, by-laws, garbage collection, new housing and transportation.

In Toronto, you only have to look out your window to see construction cranes dotting the horizon. Condominiums and larger office towers are dramatically changing the City’s map. Even once-sleepy neighbourhoods are being transformed: Leaside, Highland Creek, Hogs Hollow are all being transformed, in part because of the high cost of land and the demand that comes with a growing population. All of this has forced the city to expand beyond ranch style bungalows and encourage significant intensification.

Unfortunately, with so much growth, the City of Toronto is being challenged by old infrastructure not being able to keep pace with all of this intensification. For example, the city had to recently consider freezing a development in one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods due to concerns about the lack of water and sewage systems capacity.

In addition, driving throughout Greater Toronto Area can sometimes seem almost impossible. The road system is creaking under the strain of all of this new development. As some say, we have designed a city where no one can get anywhere. In response to the gridlock, the province of Ontario and the GTA have embarked on a massive expansion of public transportation systems. This forces public authorities to expropriate homes and businesses along the paths of the new transit lines.

Lawyers are needed to deal with all of these issues; whether municipal, planning, environmental or developmental. Recently the influential municipal affairs newsletter, Novae Res Urbis, named Thomson Rogers’ Municipal Lawyers as one of the Top 10 Development Law Firms* in Toronto. Lawyers Stephen D’Agostino, Jeff Wilker, Al Burton, David Germain, Denitza Koev and Greg Sills, travel across the province providing advice to many municipalities, developers and individuals.

* Shared with permission from the publisher of NRU Publishing Inc. Original article first appeared in Novae Res Urbis-GTHA Edition, Vol. 20, No. 49, Wednesday, December 14, 2017.