Hansard transcript of Oct. 17, 2017 hearing at Queen’s Park regarding OMB Reform is now available
On the afternoon of Oct. 17, 2017, I arrived at Queen’s Park after walking north from Union Station. On the way, I stopped for a fish burrito at the food court at Mount Sinai Hospital. Jaan Pill photo
The Hansard transcript of the Bill 139 (OMB Reform) hearing at Queen’s Park on Oct. 17, 2017 hearing is now available.
A transcript of the hearing on the same legislative topic, held the previous day on Oct. 16, is also available.
By way of introducing the contents of the Oct. 17 hearing, which I attended in person, I’ve written a previous post:
At an earlier post, I have outlined an early version of the list of speakers, at the Oct. 17, 2017 Queen’s Parl hearing, regarding OMB Reform:
Bill 139 (OMB Reform) hearings: Oct. 17, 2017 speakers list
Cannon display outside of 426 University Ave., Oct. 17, 2017. I began my self-education about the British empire, in my readings about world history some years ago, with the working hypothesis that the empire was essentially benign. Slowly it has dawned on me, however, that for any empire, there is also an “other than benign” aspect. Jaan Pill photo
An earlier post shares a backstory regarding the steps leading up to the Bill 139 legislative initiative:
Proposed legislation brings “fundamental reform” to OMB: Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Peter Milczyn
SQ3R
SQ3R refers to: Survey Question Read Recite Review. This is a framework, by which a person can approach any reading task, in order to ensure that the act of reading features a close engagement with the contents of a particular text. That is:
- Survey: Get a sense of what the text is about. For example, read a few paragraphs here and there, before jumping into the text. Or read the first sentence in every paragraph, from the start of the article (or book, or study) to the end.
- Question: Formulate questions, that a person seeks to have answered, by reading the text. Make predictions about what the text will say, with regard to specified questions. Do I anticipate that I will agree, or disagree, with what the author of this particular text has to say, with regard to the questions I have in mind?
- Read: Then I proceed with the act of reading the text, from start to finish. Or, in some cases, I will start in the middle, then read what’s at the front and then I will read what’s toward the end of the text. That is, the act of reading through a text can be made more active, than otherwise would be the case, by starting at different points in the text.
- Recite: In order to retain, in one’s working memory, what the contents are about, it’s good to recite parts of it, and to check against the original text, to ensure that one’s recollection captures the essence of what was communicated. There was a time when postmodernist theory postulated that seeking out the “essence” of anything is a fool’s errand, I would note by way of an aside. Postmodernism was just another doctrine, that came and went, from what I can gather. For that reason, I continue to seek out the essence of things, the admonishments of postmodernist theory notwithstanding.
- Review: Bring it all together. Relate what you have read to your life’s experiences, including your encounters with other texts. I do my own review mainly in the very early morning hours, when my mind is free of distractions and announces all manner of insights for me to consider. I typically write down such an insights-review in a notebook, and sometimes I record my thoughts using an audio recorder, which I can subsequently turn into text using Dragon Naturally Speaking software, which I have trained to automatically transcribe my voice in to text.
So, here’s the question: How accurate were my notes of the Oct. 17, 2017 OMB Reform hearing?
My online notes from the Oct. 17, 2016 Queen’s Park hearing offer a form of SQ3R introduction to the Oct. 17, 2017 Hansard text.
I look forward to a close study of what the notes said, and what each speaker actually said. I anticipate that my notes will have captured the essence of what each person said, but in some cases I will have missed some minor or even key points, and certainly some nuances (that I may have missed) may be there, in the official transcript, that will be useful to know about.
Etobicoke-York Committee of Adjustment recordings are now available
I am delighted, with regard to recordings of land-use hearings, that recordings of City of Toronto Committee of Adjustment hearings are now available, for purchase at $40 per hearing by members of the public.
I view the availability of such recordings as a highly valuable feature, in relation to evidence-based practice as it relates to land-use decision making.
I have purchased the recording of the May 4, 2017 Etobicoke-York Committee of Adjustment hearing and I look forward to a close study of it.
It will be a real plus, to have transcripts of Tribunal hearings available
Bill 139 specifies that transcripts of oral arguments at the Tribunals, that will replace the OMB, will be available to the public.
The availability of such transcripts is a significant step forward, with regard to enabling the public to learn what actually happens at land-use hearings in Ontario.
Whether the OMB actually disappears, or instead reappears in a new guise, with regard (for example) to what is happening in neighbourhoods such as Long Branch in South Etobicoke, remains to be determined.
The Tribunal transcripts, that will be available in years ahead, will possibly help members of the public find the answer to this question.
That is, is the OMB Reform, when it happens, a genuine reform, or is it like previous attempts to address issues that have made themselves known, with regard to the OMB, over the past three-quarters of a century?
With regard to the May 4, 2017 CofA recording, that I mention: In the event subsequent versions of the recording, available to the public, have the above-mentioned “hot mic” moment erased from the recording, please let me know. I have the original recording, as does at least one other Long Branch resident, that I know of.
Previous posts highlighting SQ3R and related concepts
Some previous discussions related to SQ3R and related concepts including “active reading” and the management of stories (I am thinking, for example, of the “Story of O” – that is, the story of the OMB) include:
The Canadian Oral History Reader (2015) “is an important work”
Storytelling: Getting attention; playing the role; collaboration
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