Although the Kingsway Entertainment District is long dead, its legacy lives on in a legal challenge critical of the city’s handling of the municipal arena project.
The Minnow Lake Restoration Group’s lawyer, Eric Gillespie, filed motions with the Ontario Court of Appeal last month to introduce new evidence and a motion for leave (permission) to appeal.
A judicial review the MLRG initiated last year was dismissed as “entirely without merit” earlier this year. After their legal challenge was dismissed, the group filed an appeal in August so they would no longer have to pay $37,000 in legal costs they were ordered to submit to the city.
In the event they are successful in this appeal, a media release issued by the group notes they “will donate all relief provided by the court to local community initiatives.”
City council voted to cancel the KED on July 12, which was the same day the decision on the judicial review was made and three days before the decision was released publicly. As such, the basis for the MLRG’s judicial review became a largely moot point. The MLRG had alleged the city made “numerous errors of law” in proceeding with the KED, and that city council didn’t have all the information they required.
Because the MLRG failed in this legal challenge, the city became entitled to redeem $37,000 of the approximately $54,000 they spent on legal costs (called a partial indemnity) from the MLRG.
This expense is what the MLRG is fighting against paying in their appeal.
It is “unjust, at minimum,” for the MLRG to bear the burden of these costs “given the substantive outcome of this matter,” according to their latest court filing. “The appellant’s concerns proved to be well-founded and correct, as the respondent’s involvement in the KED was completely cancelled once all of the relevant information was properly presented to council.”
In their latest court filing, the MLRG contends that city council’s decision to vote against the KED on July 12 is evidence that the basis for the judicial review was correct. Once city council learned all of the relevant information – namely that the KED’s cost had jumped from $100 million to $215 million – their majority support shifted to unanimous opposition.
Costs didn’t more than double overnight, the MLRG’s appeal document contends, noting the $100-million estimate dates all the way back to 2017.
“In this case, the difference between the initial estimate and updated estimate of costs was $115 million, more than doubling the costs of the project,” according to the document, noting this was enough to shift the tide from majority support to unanimous rejection.
“The fresh evidence clearly demonstrates that the applicant was correct in bringing its application for judicial review,” according to a media release issued by the MLRG.
The MLRG filed a motion on July 14 to bring the contents of the July 12 city council meeting (when city council voted to kill the KED) forward as new evidence. This filing attempt came one day before the judiciaries’ decision was made public, but two days after it was made. Further, although the trio of judges made their decision on the same day city council voted to end their involvement in the KED, the court clarified to Gillespie that they were unaware of the cancellation at the time.
The appeal process is ongoing, lawyer Eric Gillespie explained to Sudbury.com. The court is waiting on the city to reply to the MLRG’s latest filing, which is expected this month and will be followed by a potential response by the appellant and an eventual judicial decision.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
