The Ottawa Citizen reports that, “As part of a legal effort to stop the planned redevelopment of Lansdowne Park, a community group is asking for copies of every communication involving the city and the group planning the development covering nearly two years, and for all the details of the financial arrangements.”
“The litigation is still in a preliminary phase, with the case due to formally begin April 4. But before that, the Friends of Lansdowne Park, which is arguing in court that the agreement between the city and a group of developers and sports impresarios called the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group violated the city’s procurement bylaw, has given a ‘notice of motion’ seeking a court date to argue it should have access to those documents. The group also wants an advance order saying that even if the Friends lose their case, they won’t be required to pay the city’s and OSEG’s legal costs.”
“The Friends’ lawyer, Steven Shrybman, argues that the Friends need to see all the terms of the complex financial arrangements — involving separate corporate entities, with ownership shared by the city and OSEG in various ways, for each of the major components of the project — to verify OSEG’s claims that it’s taking on considerable risk as part of the Lansdowne partnership. And he argues that the group needs to see all of the communications between the city and OSEG from July 2007 to April 2009 because that’s when the city decided to cancel a design competition for Lansdowne and negotiate directly with OSEG instead.”
Last June, CBC reported that, “The City of Ottawa will be breaking its own procurement bylaws if it finalizes a deal with a group of Ottawa businessmen to redevelop Lansdowne Park without competitive bidding, an Ottawa lawyer says. ‘Council has an obligation to comply with its rules … in this case rules about procurement that make it virtually a requirement in all cases to engage in some kind of competitive bidding process,’ said Steven Shrybman, a lawyer with the firm Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP who specializes in public interest litigation.’
The Lansdowne Follies, a fundraiser to support this legal challenge, will take place at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St. (Old Ottawa South) on Saturday February 5 from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. Tickets are available at Compact Music, the Ottawa Folklore Centre and the Mayfair Theatre.
The Ottawa Citizen report is at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Lansdowne+opponents+demand+mountain+files/4107309/story.html. The CBC report is at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/06/26/ottawa-lansdowne-park-unlawful-challenge.html.
Shrybman’s 17-page legal opinion can be read at http://www.letsgetitright.ca/images/untitled_0624201022013200.pdf.
