James McKenzie

James McKenzie is a Vice-Chair of the Ontario Municipal Board, a position to which he was appointed in 2007.  In this capacity he has adjudicated numerous matters arising under various provincial statutes, principally the Planning Act.  He has also successfully mediated complex, multi-party matters regarding land use development proposals, property expropriation, heritage conservation, aggregate resource extraction, development charges, sewage treatment plant expansion, and municipal ward boundary disputes.
 

Mr. McKenzie is also an Adjunct Professor of mediation and negotiation in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University and the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, and formerly in the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Royal Roads University and the Corporate Communications Program at Seneca College.  He has also instructed in mediation and negotiation programs offered by the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School, Queen’s University, and the Province of Ontario.
 

From 1994 to his appointment in 2007, he was the President of McKenzieParis Inc., a role in which he successfully assisted business, government, and community leaders resolve complex public and private disputes.

Prior to 1994, Mr. McKenzie practiced as a professional planner in both the public and private sectors.