On January 31, 2011 the City of Ottawa agreed not to challenge the standing of Friends of Lansdowne Inc. (FOL) in court. This marks a major step forward in the fight against the Lansdowne redevelopment scheme.

From now on, all legal activity to quash the redevelopment scheme will be focussed on the FOL application before the Ontario Superior Court.

It also means that Gary Sealey and Doug Ward – who signed on as co-applicants at the beginning to ensure the case would not be challenged – can retire.

"Our individual missions have been accomplished," said Sealey and Ward. "Now we can work alongside everyone else in Friends of Lansdowne to ensure the Court will rule against this illegal scheme."

Sealey and Ward stepped forward understanding that the City had a reciprocal policy, up front, not to seek costs against local public interest groups and individuals. However, in this case at least, the City won't make a decision on following that policy until the case is over.

While the chance of having court costs awarded against Sealey and Ward was exceedingly remote, the scale of those costs could have been very punishing.