The Lansdowne Park Conservancy (LPC) was dealt another harsh – and hopefully final – blow days ago, when the Ontario Court of Appeal refused to hear the group’s application to stop the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.
This happened after the Ontario Divisional Court called the case an “abuse of process” when it rejected it in March. The Friends of Lansdowne was given a very similar ruling, when the Court of Appeal unanimously rejected the group’s legal challenge in May.
The reason behind the court ruling against the case is an abuse of process because, according to City Clerk and Solicitor Rick O’Connor, the LPC “did not pursue other litigation avenues previously available to it, and that there was a delay by the LPC in bringing its application which constituted a separate ground for the abuse of process.” The ruling shouldn’t be considered a surprise; opponents of the Lansdowne redevelopment have stalled construction every way imaginable — including to stop cutting down trees and to make sure that birds living on the grounds weren’t disturbed before they migrated after the summer months, according to a CBC article. These delays are the reason the court fined John Martin (founder of the LPC) $1,000 on top of the $10,000 they were fined earlier this year to pay for the city’s court fees.
In open letters published by the LPC and Rick O’Connor, the Conservancy stated that they lost the appeal and that it was basically finished with the appealing process. O’Connor said that there is still a chance for the group to appeal its case to the Supreme Court, but that it would be unlikely to succeed because with the Court of Appeal’s ruling, the Supreme Court is unquestionably more unlikely to accept the Conservancy’s appeal if they decide to pursue it.
So what does this mean for Ottawa? It means that the people want Lansdowne to be rebuilt. For those people who remember Lansdowne in its heyday, they remember good times. I watched my first football game there and I would love to watch more. Plus with the renovations, it can open up new venue spaces. Maybe the Grey Cup will return soon after completion, or bands can play downtown — remember the Rolling Stones? There were many other great performances there, and it would be beneficial for students at Carleton, considering there isn’t a whole lot for large arenas in the area. With construction scheduled to be completed in June of 2015, I can only hope that there will be no more delays that just waste everyone (including the courts’) time.
Patrick Oakes,
first-year geography
