After having their case against the Kingsway Entertainment District dismissed as “completely without merit,” the Minnow Lake Restoration Group’s legal counsel has filed two appeals.
In a media release issued by the organization, it’s noted Eric Gillespie Law has filed two appeals with the Ontario Court of Appeal on behalf of their client.
Their chief argument is that they filed a motion on July 14 bringing new evidence to the court’s attention, which should have been considered.
The motion was filed prior to a decision being made public the following day, but after a decision was signed off on by the Divisional Court on July 12.
According to the media release, the fresh evidence relates to city council’s decision on July 12 to cancel the KED. This is described as “new evidence which was not available at the time of the hearing of the application,” and is relevant to the applicant’s case.
In an interview with Sudbury.com on July 15, shortly after it was made known the Minnow Lake Restoration Group’s judicial review was dismissed by a trio of judges, Gillespie said city council’s vote to cancel the KED proved his client’s case.
Their chief argument throughout the proceedings has been that city council might have voted differently on proceeding with the KED last year if they had all the information they’d requested from city administration.
“A lot of the information wasn’t being provided to councillors,” Gillespie said on July 15. “Staff knew a great deal of what came out in the subsequent meetings much earlier. This is why Minnow Lake went to court.”
While the KED’s $215-million price tag was a new development, Gillespie contended the price jump from its initial $100-million budget didn’t happen overnight and that city administration knew more about the project’s escalating costs than they let city council know about.
Although the Minnow Lake Restoration Group’s legal challenge is largely a moot point due to city council voting to end the project, the city’s $37,000 partial indemnity remains at play.
Since the Minnow Lake Restoration Group lost their legal challenge, they are now responsible for paying this share of the city’s legal expenses, which totalled approximately $54,000 in relation to this case.
The Minnow Lake Restoration Group is arguing against this financial responsibility in their appeal.
