Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: May 04, 2022
CASE NO(S).: OLT-21-001291
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 26(b) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.27.
Claimant
Cleansheet Communications Inc.
Respondent
City of Toronto
Subject:
Determination of compensation
Description:
Cleansheet Communications Inc. v. City of Toronto
Property Address:
425 Bloor Street (425 Bloor Street East)
Municipality/UT:
Toronto/Toronto
OLT Case No:
OLT-21-001291
OLT Case Name:
Cleansheet Communications Inc. v. City of Toronto
Heard:
April 25, 2022 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Cleansheet Communications Inc. (“Claimant”)
Isaac Tang Simon Fung
City of Toronto (“Respondent/City”)
Alexander Suriano William Martin
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY T.F. NG ON APRIL 25, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) for this matter held as a video hearing.
2The Claimant seeks compensation for its interest as a Tenant of lands appropriated by the City: lands municipally known as Suite 100 at 425 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario through Expropriation Plan AT4884709 (“subject lands”).
3There are ongoing discussions and negotiations which parties hope will lead to a settlement but in the meantime, parties request hearing dates to be fixed.
DRAFT PROCEDURAL ORDER
4Counsels have filed a Procedural Order by consent and in view of the upcoming Municipal elections, parties have requested for hearing dates in and around end of March 2023 and the first week of April 2023.
5The parties requested that a seven (7)-day hearing be scheduled, since there will be a total of about six expert witnesses (three experts on each side).
6The Tribunal will fix a seven (7)-day hearing for the matter and a CMC for the parties to report on settlement efforts (if any) and the status of this matter.
7Parties are directed to forward the Procedural Order with all timelines filled in which shall be provided to the Case Coordinator on or before Thursday, May 5, 2022.
HEARING DETAILS
8A one-day CMC hearing will commence on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 10 a.m. by video hearing:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365 Access code: 709-076-365 Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or Toll Free 1-888-299-1889 Audio-only access code: 709-076-365
9A seven (7)-day Hearing will commence at 10 a.m. on Monday, April 3, 2023 to Thursday, April 13, 2023 by video hearing:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365 Access code: 709-076-365 Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or Toll Free 1-888-299-1889 Audio-only access code: 709-076-365
10Parties and participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:
11Parties and participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html.
12Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the events by calling into the audio-only telephone line with the Access Code(s) indicated above.
13Individuals are directed to connect to the events on the assigned dates at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the video hearings to ensure that they are properly connected to the events at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing events may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.
ORDER
14The Tribunal orders as follows:
a. The CMC is scheduled to proceed by video on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 10 a.m.
b. The Hearing is scheduled for seven days by video from Monday, April 3, 2023 to Thursday, April 13, 2023.
c. The Procedural Order attached as Attachment 1 herein, shall govern the proceedings.
15The Member is not seized.
16The Tribunal so orders.
“T.F. Ng”
T.F. Ng
MEMBER
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248
The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.
OLT Case No.: OLT-21-001291
ISSUE DATE:
ONTARIO LAND TRIBUNAL
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 26 of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26, as amended
Claimant: Cleansheet Communications Inc.
Respondent: City of Toronto
Subject: Expropriation by the City of Toronto
Property Address: 425 Bloor Street
Municipality: Toronto
OLT Case Number: OLT-21-001291
OLT Lead Case Number: OLT-21-001291
PROCEDURAL ORDER
- The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.
Organization of the Hearing
The video hearing will take place between April 3 and 6, 2023 and April 11 and 13, 2023. The hearing will commence at 10:00 a.m. on each day.
The length of the hearing is 7 days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible. The procedural order deadlines are generally found in Attachment 1.
The issues are set out in the pleadings filed, including amendment.
The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 2 to this Order. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, evidence in chief (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the parties’ consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by Order of the Tribunal.
Any person who intends to participate in the hearing, including parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website.
Requirements Before the Hearing
Documentary and Oral Discoveries
Each parties’ Affidavit of Documents shall be exchanged on or before October 20, 2022.
Examinations for Discovery shall be completed on or before November 18, 2022.
Answers to any undertakings provided and/or re-examinations arising out of the answers and/or undertakings shall be completed on or before December 19, 2022.
Any Motion(s) arising out of the discovery process are to be served and filed on or before January 10, 2023. The Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure apply in relation to any Motion(s) arising out of the discovery process.
List of Witnesses
- A party who intends to call witnesses, whether by summons or not, shall provide to the Tribunal and the other parties a list of the witnesses and the order in which they will be called. This list must be delivered on or before January 18, 2023. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.
Witness Statements and Evidence
Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before February 22, 2023 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before March 14, 2023.
An expert witness statement or witness statement, as appropriate, shall be served in respect of all witnesses (see Attachment 3 for the meaning of these terms). An expert witness statement shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 14 below. Instead of an expert witness statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony.
On or before February 2, 2023, the parties shall provide copies of their witness and expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.
On or before March 20, 2023, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.
Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence by March 6, 2023 and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.
Any documents which may be used by a party in cross examination of an opposing party’s witness shall be password protected and only be accessible to the Tribunal and the other parties if it is introduced as evidence at the hearing, pursuant to the directions provided by the OLT case co-ordinator, on or before 10:00 a.m. on the day of that cross-examination.
A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. See Tribunal’s Rule 10 with respect to Motions, which requires that the moving party provide copies of the motion to all other parties 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.
A party who provides written evidence of a witness to the other parties must have the witness attend the hearing to give oral evidence, unless the party notifies the Tribunal by March 20, 2023 that the written evidence is not part of their record.
Joint Document Book
- The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before March 20, 2023.
General Provisions
The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before February 22, 2023 with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the parties participating in the hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in chief, cross-examination and re-examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The parties shall prepare and file a final hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before March 24, 2023. The parties are expected to ensure that the hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the hearing plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the hearing plan at any time in the course of the hearing.
All filings shall be submitted electronically and in hard copy. Electronic copies may be filed by email, an electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or as otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The delivery of documents by email shall be governed by the Tribunal’s Rule 7.
No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.
This Member is not seized.
So orders the Tribunal.
BEFORE:
Name of Member:
Date:
TRIBUNAL REGISTRAR
ATTACHMENT 1
Summary of Dates
DATE
EVENT
October 20, 2022
Exchange of Affidavit of Documents
November 18, 2022
Complete Examinations for Discovery
December 19, 2022
Deadline to provide answers to undertakings
January 10, 2023
Deadline to serve and file Motion(s) arising out of discovery process
January 18, 2023
Exchange of Witness Lists
February 2, 2023
Exchange of Witness Statements and Expert Witness Statements
February 22, 2023
Experts meeting prior to this date
February 22, 2023
Preliminary Hearing Plan filed with the Tribunal
March 6, 2023
Exchange of Reply Witness Statements (if any)
March 14, 2023
Agreed Statement of Facts filed with the Tribunal
March 20, 2023
Exchange of visual evidence (if any)
March 20, 2023
Joint Document Book filed with the Tribunal
March 24, 2023
Final Hearing Plan filed with the Tribunal
April 3, 2023
Hearing commences
ATTACHMENT 2
Order of Evidence
Cleansheet Communications Inc.
City of Toronto
Cleansheet Communications Inc., in Reply
Reply evidence shall not include evidence that was or should have been led in-chief.
ATTACHMENT 3
Meaning of terms used in the Procedural Order:
Party is an individual or corporation permitted by the Tribunal to participate fully in the hearing by receiving copies of written evidence, presenting witnesses, cross-examining the witnesses of the other parties, and making submissions on all of the evidence. If an unincorporated group wishes to become a party, it must appoint one person to speak for it, and that person must accept the other responsibilities of a party as set out in the Order. Parties do not have to be represented by a lawyer, and may have an agent speak for them. The agent must have written authorisation from the party.
Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing. These must have pages numbered consecutively throughout the entire document, even if there are tabs or dividers in the material.
Visual evidence includes photographs, maps, videos, models, and overlays which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing.
A witness statement is a short written outline of the person’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which he or she will discuss ; and a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing.
An expert witness statement should include his or her (1) name and address, (2) qualifications, (3) a list of the issues he or she will address, (4) the witness’ opinions on those issues and the complete reasons supporting their opinions and conclusions and (5) a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing. An expert witness statement must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of expert’s duty.