From the Globe and Mail, Ontario government plans to fire the three provincially appointed directors on the board of Waterfront Toronto over frustrations about its governance, including the handling of its proposed smart-city development with Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs.
The firings would mark the first significant public government intervention in a widely criticized partnership with Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet Inc. Waterfront Toronto is a development agency representing all three levels of government, each of whom can appoint four board members at a time.
The board members to be fired are chair Helen Burstyn, veteran investment executive Michael Nobrega – who is Waterfront Toronto’s acting chief executive, and University of Toronto president Meric Gertler. They were notified shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, said a source close to the Ontario cabinet who was briefed on the plan, but was not authorized to speak on the record. Ms. Burstyn confirmed Thursday night that she had received a call from Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton that the provincial appointments would be revoked.