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Friends, It was a dramatic day last Monday November 28th, the day of the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing at historic Osgoode Hall in Toronto. More than a dozen Friends of Lansdowne folks came from Ottawa by car, bus, train and plane to support our lawyers. We and some like-minded community activists from Toronto filled every available seat in the courtroom and then some. We were there to support our hard-working legal team as they argued our legal challenge once again, aiming to have the decision of the lower (Superior) court overturned. This time, our lawyer Steven Shrybman was joined by the managing partner from Sack Goldblatt Mitchell’s Toronto office, Steven Barrett. This is yet another example of this law firm going the extra mile, whether we can pay its fee or not. Steven Barrett has extensive experience at both the Appeal and Supreme Courts and cleared the deck to spend several days preparing for Monday’s hearing. Both our lawyers were brilliant in clearly explaining the complex details of Lansdowne Plan, the errors made by Justice Hackland, and how the City’s actions violated provincial law by failing to conduct and competitive procurement and by providing extensive financial assistance to OSEG. The three Judge panel was actively engaged, and asked many questions. In one important moment, one of the Justices asked whether there were other cases of this kind that they could look at, to which Steven Shrybman replied, "This is the first one." This was a dramatic illustration of the importance of this case -- if we win it, it will establish new case law to guide courts in future cases where citizens challenge their municipal governments to "get it right." Now that the oral arguments have been made, the Justices will review their notes, the written arguments filed by the Parties, and the volumes of material filed in support of the case. They may be unanimous in their views of the case, or there may be a dissenting opinion. It is impossible to know how quickly we will have the Court's answer, but given the expedited nature of the appeal, it may come in December. While we are all waiting, there is something more you can do. Help us compensate our lawyers for their efforts. Although we have raised an amazing $267,000 so far, the costs of presenting a complex legal case are enormous. We know that the City’s legal bill is well in excess of $1.2 million. The City repeatedly took steps during the course of litigation, such as withholding evidence, that substantially added to our costs. Our legal team refused to be cowed by these tactics or the expense and effort of having to deal with them. Sack Goldblatt Mitchell has done an outstanding job for us and Monday’s effort was another superb example. You will be pleased to know that the City's lawyers confirmed that the appeal does fall within the City's former policy on public interest litigation and therefore it will not seek costs from Friends of Lansdowne. OSEG has threatened to seek costs but we believe this is just an intimidation tactic as it is highly unlikely that the Courts would award costs to an intervenor. One more thing we must mention: Friends of Lansdowne is not associated in any way way with John Martin of the Lansdowne Conservancy or his lawsuit which is not yet in the courts. If you want to support the Friends of Lansdowne, make sure you donate to us and not to another group. Please help again if you can. You can donate:
(Note: We do not release the names of our donors, but if you prefer your donation to be anonymous, just ask the Treasurer to keep it so. Or you could simply make a cash deposit to our TD bank account.) One more thing -- if you want to see what Friends of Lansdowne president June Creelman had to say in 36 seconds in front of the courthouse on Monday, have a look at Thanks everyone. Let's Get it Right! |