Signatories include Alan Broadbent, CEO of Avana Capital; Sara Diamond, president of OCAD University; Mohamed Lachemi, president of Ryerson University; and Medhat Mahdy, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Toronto. Two former Toronto mayors—Barbara Hall and Art Eggleton—also signed. “Through this letter, we are asking governments to give Waterfront Toronto a clear mandate to negotiate a positive deal for everyone that can keep Sidewalk Labs in Toronto while getting the maximum possible benefit for our city,” said Matthew Kofsky, senior manager of public affairs and stakeholder relations at the Toronto Region Board of Trade (Toronto RBoT), in a statement to The Logic. (The Logic)

Talking point: The Toronto RBoT initiated the letter, which has been in the works for a few weeks, but Sidewalk Labs helped connect it with some of the signatories, Kofsky told The Logic. The project has divided business and civic communities in Toronto. Advocates and critics of the company’s plan for the Quayside project have published a number of op-eds since the firm revealed its Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP) on June 24. In June, The Logic’s editor-in-chief David Skok reported that Sidewalk Labs was asking prominent CEOs to sign a letter of support for the project. The signatories of this letter, however, are mostly academic, civic and former political leaders. The letter comes as the public prepares to weigh in on the MIDP, during a series of public consultation meetings launched by Waterfront Toronto.