A new provincial appointee to the Waterfront Toronto board says despite strong ties to a prominent Sidewalk Labs critic, he has no bias or preconceived ideas about the “smart city” proposal that Google’s sister firm is working on.Andrew MacLeod, Postmedia CEO and former senior vice-president and managing director for Research in Motion (later renamed BlackBerry), was one of four people appointed this past week by the provincial Conservative government. Former RIM CEO Jim Balsillie has been a fierce critic of the Sidewalk Labs project.In December, the province fired several provincial appointees to the Waterfront Toronto board shortly after provincial auditor general Bonnie Lysyk issued a report highly critical of Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto. Lysyk urged the province to “reassess” the partnership between Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs. The two have formed an “innovative partnership” in which Sidewalk is developing a controversial proposal for a data-driven residential neighbourhood on the waterfront, one that must be approved by Waterfront Toronto.The other appointees are:Patrick Sheils, Laurentian Bank Securities co-president; Kevin Sullivan, deputy chairman of GMP Capital; Christopher Voutsinas, former head of international real estate investments at SEDCO Capital. The appointments take effect immediately.Read more:‘Building raincoats’ and heated paving stones: Smart city technology on display at Sidewalk Labs open house Google’s Sidewalk Labs plans massive expansion to waterfront visionSidewalk Labs’ Port Lands vision not guaranteed, says new Waterfront Toronto chairMacLeod’s appointment to the Waterfront board stands out because of his relationship with Balsillie, whom he worked under for about 13 years at RIM.Balsillie, who resigned from RIM as co-CEO in 2012, wrote a scathing opinion piece for the Globe and Mail late last year. He said “Sidewalk Toronto is not a sma ...
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