The Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou et al. v. Metrolinx, 2025 CanLII 124739

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: November 24, 2025

CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000860

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26, as amended

Claimant: The Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou, The Estate of Nikolaos Papanagnostou and Nickan Inc.

Respondent: Metrolinx

Subject: Land Compensation

Property Address: 449 Queen Street West

Municipality: City of Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000860

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000860

OLT Case Name: The Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou, et al.v. Metrolinx

Heard: November 12 and November 18, 2025 by teleconference

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel

Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou (“Claimant”)

A. Burton

Metrolinx

K. Bezprozvannykh

DECISION DELIVERED BY WILLIAM R. MIDDLETON AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

Link to Order

INTRODUCTION

1This matter involves a claim for compensation pursuant to subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26 (“Act”) made by the Claimant arising from the expropriation by Metrolinx of the property municipally known as 449 Queen Street West in the City of Toronto.

2By Order issued September 18, 2025, a Procedural Order (“PO”) was promulgated based on a hearing date originally scheduled to commence on January 26, 2026. Under the PO, dates were set out concerning the exchange of witness statements by the Parties. Metrolinx complied by delivering its witness statements by October 31, 2025, as required by the PO. The Claimant did not comply and has still not delivered its witness statements.

STATUS TELECONFERENCES

3The Tribunal convened a status conference by telephone held on November 12, 2025, at which time counsel for the Claimant expressed his apology for not delivering expert reports and witness statements in accordance with the PO which he stated was due to his busy workload involving other cases. The Tribunal acknowledged this but reiterated that it is essential that Parties to all proceedings before the Tribunal meet their agreed obligations on time, except in circumstances where the Tribunal has agreed in advance to modify the dates contained in a PO.

4Further discussion ensued as to the likelihood that the Parties would be ready to proceed with a full hearing on January 26, 2026, given the numerous religious holidays and vacation period that will encompass December 2025 and January 2026. The Tribunal determined that the hearing date should be rescheduled for a later commencement date and counsel for both Parties sought instructions as to whether the hearing could proceed in mid-February 2026.

5A further status teleconference was held on November 18, 2025, at which time counsel for Metrolinx advised that a hearing could not commence in mid-February 2026 due to the unavailability of certain expert witnesses. It was determined that the hearing could proceed in April 2026 and the Tribunal scheduled a hearing as follows below.

6The Tribunal set the ten-day hearing by video conference on April 13-17, 2026, and April 27-May 1, 2026. The hearing shall commence on April 13, 2026, at 10 a.m.

7Parties 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:

GoTo Meeting: https://meet.goto.com/370987861

Access Code: 370-987-861

8Parties 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

9Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling in to an audio-only telephone line: (Toll-Free) 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The Access Code is indicated above.

10Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the Video Hearing to ensure that they are properly connected to the event at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.

11Notwithstanding the above, the Parties are to advise the Tribunal as soon as possible if they wish to hold the hearing in-person at the offices of the Tribunal, at 655 Bay Street in Toronto.

12Subsequent to the November 18, 2025, status teleconference, the Parties provided a revised draft PO based on the above-described hearing dates.

UNDERTAKING / COSTS

13Counsel for the Claimant has undertaken not to review the witness statements already delivered by Metrolinx and also not to provide those witness statements to any of its experts and witnesses or to his client. The Tribunal accepts this undertaking as appropriate and also as an acknowledgment that the failure to comply with the PO ought to have been avoided. Based on this personal undertaking of the Claimant’s lawyer, counsel for Metrolinx declined the Tribunal’s suggestion that those expert reports simply be retracted.

14However, counsel for Metrolinx repeated on November 18, 2025 a request first made at the November 12, 2025 teleconference that the Tribunal award costs against the Claimant for its failure to comply with the PO in the absence of circumstances of exigency or of any reasonable explanation. Metrolinx’s counsel sought the sum of $2500 in costs.

15The Claimant’s counsel objected to the request for costs, arguing that there is no prejudice to Metrolinx stemming from the Claimant’s failure to deliver its witness statements as originally prescribed in the PO issued on September 18, 2025. The Claimant’s counsel also contended that there is no authority under the Act that would permit the Tribunal to award interim costs of this nature nor any justification for doing so under Rule 23 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules”).

16The Tribunal declines to rule at this juncture as to whether costs ought to be awarded against the Claimant as a sanction due to its admitted failure to meet its agreed obligation under the September 18, 2025, PO. In the Tribunal’s view, this is a matter best dealt with by the Tribunal following the hearing of this proceeding or pursuant to a request for costs made under the provisions of Rule 26 subsequent to a settlement reached by the Parties. At that time, the Tribunal may consider the overall conduct of both Parties.

17The Tribunal has broad discretion under both the Act (and under the provisions of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, S.O. 2021, C. 4, Sched. 6, including under section 13 thereof) to prescribe rules governing its practices and procedures and could consider the conduct of the Parties during a proceeding and whether to assess or fix costs under the Act but prefers to do so as described in paragraph [16] rather than on an interim basis in circumstances such as these or when dealing with motion practice. Otherwise, the Tribunal risks the encouragement of practices that will not promote the cost-effective and expeditious resolution of the merits of a proceeding. It is also unnecessary for the Tribunal to consider its jurisdiction under the Act to award interim costs and it declines to do so. There were also no facts presented which could enable the Tribunal to consider the applicability of Rule 23 at this stage and the Tribunal will not do so.

ORDER

18THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:

(i) The Procedural Order appended as Attachment A hereto (“PO”) shall govern the conduct of this proceeding and shall supersede the Procedural Order issued September 18, 2025;

(ii) The date of December 19, 2025, contained in the PO for delivery of the Claimant’s witness statements shall be peremptory to the Claimant;

(iii) The costs relating to the November 12 and November 18, 2025, status teleconferences and the matters described in this Decision shall be deferred for consideration by the Tribunal in the event of a costs adjudication following the hearing of this proceeding or pursuant to an application for costs brought under Rule 26 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure following a settlement reached by the Parties; and

(iv) This Vice Chair shall remain seized for the purpose of the case management of this proceeding and all motion practice but shall not be seized in respect of any mediation which may be convened or for the final hearing of this matter.

“William R. Middleton”

WILLIAM R. MIDDLETON

VICE-CHAIR

Ontario Land Tribunal

Website: www.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.

Attachment A

CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000860

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26, as amended and in the matter of an Arbitration:

Claimants: The Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou, The Estate of Nikolaos Papanagnostou and Nickan Inc.

Subject: Land Compensation

Property Address/Description: 449 Queen Street West

Municipality: City of Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000860

OLT File No.: OLT-23-000860

OLT Case Name: The Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou, et al. v Metrolinx

PROCEDURAL ORDER

1. 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

2. The virtual hearing will begin on April 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. by video conference.

Video Hearing Link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/979388733

Access Code: 979-388-733

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is ten (10) days, to take place between April 13-17, 2026, and April 27 – May 1, 2026 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.

4. The parties and counsel are set out in Attachment 1 to this Order.

5. The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2 to this Order.

6. The Order of Evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3 to this Order.

7. 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

8. The Respondent served and filed a Notice of Arbitration on Thursday, August 29, 2023.

9. The Claimants served and filed a Statement of Claim on November 8, 2024.

10. Metrolinx served and filed its Reply on November 28, 2024.

11. The parties had exchanged their respective Affidavits of Documents and Productions in April, 2025.

12. Examinations for Discovery of the representative of each party were completed by August 14, 2025 by way of video conference.

13. Each party shall answer their respective undertakings arising from examinations for discovery on or before September 19, 2025.

14. Any motion arising from either documentary discovery or the Examinations for Discovery and answers to undertakings, if necessary, shall be brought, in writing, by October 3, 2025.

15. Further answers to undertaking, questions taken under advisement, and/or refusals, further examinations for discovery, and/or further productions arising from a motion are to be answered, held, and/or provided within thirty (30) days of the Tribunal’s decision on any discovery motion brought in accordance with paragraph 15, or as otherwise determined by the Tribunal.

16. The parties agree that, if participation in a mediation is agreed to by both parties, the parties are to file with the Registrar an Expropriation Mediation Request Form pursuant to Rule 26.5 on or before February 6, 2026.

17. If the parties agree to a mediation, the mediation shall take place on or before February 20, 2026, if and as permitted by the OLT mediation calendar, in the event that the parties choose to utilize the OLT mediation facility.

18. 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 September 12, 2025. 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.

19. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before January 14, 2026 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 6, 2026.

20. An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement, which 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. Instead of a 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. The 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 and a signed Acknowledgement of Expert’s Duty.

21. Expert witnesses who are under summons but not paid to produce a report do not have to file an expert witness statement; but the party calling them must file a brief outline of the expert’s evidence. A party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a brief outline of the witness’ evidence.

22. On or before December 19, 2025, the claimants shall provide copies of their witness statements and expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator. Metrolinx provided copies of its witness statement and expert witness statements to the other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator on October 31, 2025.

23. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before January 30, 2026.

24. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal on or before February 6, 2026. If a party seeks to limit or exclude any written or oral evidence of any witness, it must deliver to the Tribunal a written motion on or before February 6, 2026.

25. 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 at least 7 days before the hearing that the written evidence is not part of their record.

26. On or before February 27, 2026 the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

27. On or before April 2, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

28. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book and a joint compendium of witness statements and expert reports which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator, in both electronic and hard copy, on or before March 27, 2026. The electronic copies must be bookmarked with hyperlinks to all items listed in the tables of contents, and any lengthy expert reports shall also contain hyperlinks to all items listed in its table of contents.

29. 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 the first day of the hearing or in advance of the start of the cross-examination of any witness at the hearing.

30. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before April 2, 2026 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 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.

31. All filings shall be submitted electronically and in hard copy, unless otherwise directed by the Tribunal. 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 Rule 7.

32. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 shall apply to requests for adjournment.

Attachment 1

Party

Party Status

Counsel / Representative

The Estate of Argiro Papanagnostou, The Estate of Nikolaos Papanagnostou, and Nickan Inc.

Claimants

THOMSON ROGERS LLP 390 Bay Street, Suite 3100 Toronto, Ontario M5H 1W2 Al Burton (LSO# 45605D) T: 416.686.3113 F: 416.868.3134 aburton@trlaw.com

Metrolinx

Respondent

M&H LLP 61A Jarvis Street, Suite 200 Toronto, ON M5C 2H2 Christel Higgs (LSO #53408T) T: 416.947.6701 F: 416.947.6703 christel@mhlawyers.ca

Kristina Bezprozvannykh (LSO# 72136T) T: 416.947.6700 ext. 217 F: 416.947.6703 kristina@mhlawyers.ca

Attachment 2

OLT File No: OLT-23-000860

ONTARIO LAND TRIBUNAL

IN THE MATTER OF THE EXPROPRIATIONS ACT, R.S.O. 1990, c. E-26

AND IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

B E T W E E N:

THE ESTATE OF ARGIRO PAPANAGNOSTOU, THE ESTATE OF NIKOLAOS PAPANAGNOSTOU and NICKAN INC.

Claimants

• and -

METROLINX

Respondent

ISSUES LIST

1. The issues shall be those as set out in the pleadings delivered by the Parties.

a. Notice of Arbitration, dated August 29, 2023.

b. Statement of Claim filed by the Claimant

c. Reply filed by the Respondent

Attachment 3

OLT File No: OLT-23-000860

ONTARIO LAND TRIBUNAL

IN THE MATTER OF THE EXPROPRIATIONS ACT, R.S.O. 1990, c. E-26

AND IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

B E T W E E N:

THE ESTATE OF ARGIRO PAPANAGNOSTOU, THE ESTATE OF NIKOLAOS PAPANAGNOSTOU and NICKAN INC.

Claimants

• and -

METROLINX

Respondent

ORDER OF EVIDENCE

1. Claimants evidence in-chief

2. Claimants evidence in cross-examination

3. Metrolinx evidence in-chief

4. Metrolinx evidence in cross-examination

5. Claimants evidence in reply, if necessary