Grounds for Appeal Event: Monday September 26
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| Friends, It's been a while since we've held a big public meeting. So mark your calendars for Monday, September 26th and plan to come down to Lansdowne Park to hear presentations from lawyer Steven Shrybman and other speakers. This is a free public meeting open to all, and we encourage you to bring along anyone who is interested in finding out why Friends of Lansdowne believes it is so important to go forward with our appeal. Lets Get it Right: Grounds for Appeal Monday, September 26 7:30 p.m. Assembly Room A, Civic Centre Lansdowne Park (parking is available) Friends of Lansdowne has agreed to a City of Ottawa request to ask the Court of Appeal for an expedited hearing date. This means that the hearing is likely to take place before the end of the year. We are eager for the appeal to be heard as we are confident in the merits of our case. Steven Shrybman has prepared a summary of the grounds for appeal. Please see his report here. As you know, the City of Ottawa is not waiting for the end of litigation or for the signing of the final agreement with OSEG before pushing ahead full steam with the project. In fact, it has approved spending $20 million of taxpayers money even before the final site plan is approved. This week, the City posted a request on MERX, the online competitive procurement system, asking real estate developers to bid on the sale or lease of air rights at Lansdowne Park for 280 residential units and an office building. The development of the 360,000 sq. ft. of retail space is not included in this tender call. This Wednesday, September 14, City Council will be voting on the recommendation of the Finance and Economic Development Committee (FEDCO) to repeal of the costs policy for public interest litigation. If your Councillor is not a member of FEDCO, this week's meeting will be the first time he or she has had a chance to weigh in on the issue, so let them know how you feel. The provincial election campaign is now officially launched. When candidates come to your door, ask them where they stand on enforcement of the province's Municipal Act, on whether municipalities should be required to use competitive bidding when selling valuable assets such as land, on the province's duty to protect significant designated heritage buildings, on whether the Ministry of the Environment is acting with proper diligence regarding contaminated soils at Lansdowne Park and where they stand on the Ontario Municipal Board. Hope to see you on September 26. Lets get it right! |