Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: April 30, 2025
CASE NO.: OLT-25-000048
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26.
Claimant: Abraxas Enterprises Inc.
Expropriating Authority: The Corporation of the City of London
Subject: Determination of compensation
Description: To facilitate determination of compensation
Reference Number: Expropriation Plan ER15454907
Property Address: 835 Wellington Road
Municipality/UT: London/Middlesex
OLT Case No: OLT-25-000048
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-25-000048
OLT Case Name: Abraxas v London (City)
BEFORE:
"William R. Middleton"
VICE-CHAIR
Wednesday, the 30th day of April, 2025
THE TRIBUNAL having received and considered a draft Procedural Order delivered by the Parties;
THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:
The Procedural Order appended hereto as Schedule "A" shall govern the conduct of this proceeding leading up to and including the hearing, which is scheduled to commence on January 19, 2026, for a period of five days; and
This Vice Chair shall remain seized of this proceeding for the purpose of ongoing case management including any pre-hearing motions but shall not be seized in respect of any mediations or the final hearing of this proceeding.
"Euken Lui"
EUKEN LUI
ACTING REGISTRAR
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.
SCHEDULE 'A'
Procedural Order
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26.
Claimant: Abraxas Enterprises Inc.
Expropriating Authority: The Corporation of the City of London
Subject: Determination of compensation
Description: To facilitate determination of compensation
Reference Number: Expropriation Plan ER15454907
Property Address: 835 Wellington Road
Municipality/UT: London/Middlesex
OLT Case No: OLT-25-000048
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-25-000048
OLT Case Name: Abraxas v London (City)
Organization of the Hearing
- The video hearing will begin on January 19, 2026, at 10:00 AM at
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/909787981
Access Code: 909-787-981
The parties' initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 5 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 parties are set out in Attachment 1.
The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2. There will be no changes to this list unless the Tribunal permits, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.
The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3 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
The parties shall exchange their respective Affidavits of Documents and Productions by June 27, 2025.
Examinations for Discovery of the representative of each party shall be completed on or before August 31, 2025. The parties consent to conducting examinations for discovery by way of videoconference.
Each party shall answer their respective undertakings arising from examinations for discovery on or before October 10, 2025.
Any motion arising from either documentary discovery or the Examinations for Discovery and answers to undertakings, if necessary, shall be filed in writing by November 1, 2025, pursuant to Rule 10.3 of the Tribunal's Rules of Practice and Procedure, or as the Tribunal may otherwise direct.
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 ten (10) days of the Tribunal's Decision on any discovery motion brought in accordance with paragraph 11, or as directed by the Tribunal.
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 October 31, 2025, and in accordance with paragraph 22 below. 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.
Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before November 14, 2025, 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 November 21, 2025.
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 by November 21, 2025. 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.
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 must be provided by November 21, 2025. A party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a brief outline of the witness' evidence, as in paragraph 13 below.
On or before December 12, 2025, the parties shall: (a) confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required; and (b) bring a written motion if either party seeks to limit or exclude the evidence delivered by the other party.
On or before December 5, 2025, 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 within ten (10) days after the evidence is received, or by no later than December 1, 2025.
The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before January 9, 2026.
A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal.
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.
The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before January 9, 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.
All filings shall be submitted electronically unless otherwise directed. 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. All electronic PDF documents shall be bookmarked and shall contain a table of contents with hyperlinks to each listed item. Lengthy expert reports and other individual documents shall also contain hyperlinks corresponding to the headings and subheadings used.
No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except in accordance with Rule 17.
Attachment 1
Party
Party Status
Counsel/Representative
Abraxas Entreprises Inc.
Claimant
LEDROIT SABO 46 Ridout Street South London ON N6C 3W6 Ondrej Sabo (LSO #62737R) Tel: (519) 432-9051 ext. 201 osabo@ledroitsabo.com Paul Ledroit (LSO #12470Q) Tel: (519) 432-9051 ext. 200 pledroit@ledroitsabo.com
The Corporation of the City of London
Respondent
THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF LONDON P.O. Box 5035, 300 Dufferin Avenue, LONDON ON N6A 4L9 Christina McCreery (LSO #84496F) Tel: (519) 670-3926 cmccreery@london.ca
Attachment 2 – Issues
The Issues shall be those as set out in the pleadings delivered by the Parties;
a. Application and Statement of Claim, dated January 16, 2025
b. Reply, dated February 3, 2025
Attachment 3 – Order of Evidence
Claimant
Respondent
Claimant (Reply, if necessary)
ATTACHMENT 4
Timetable
Exchange of Affidavits of Documents and Productions
June 27, 2025
Examinations for Discovery
August 31, 2025
answer respective undertakings arising from examinations for discovery
October 10, 2025
Any Motions arising from Examinations for Discovery
November 1, 2025
Exchange of List of Witnesses
October 31, 2025
Meeting(s) of Like Expert Witnesses
November 14, 2025
Submission of Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues
November 21, 2025
Exchange of Witness or Expert Witness Statements or Reports
November 21, 2025
Exchange of outline of expert’s evidence or witness’ evidence
November 21, 2025
Any written response to any written evidence within ten (10) days after the evidence is received
December 1, 2025
Exchange of Visual Evidence
December 5, 2025
Confirmation if all reserved hearing dates are still required
December 12, 2025
Any Motions seeking to limit or exclude written or oral evidence of any witness
December 12, 2025
Submission of Joint Document Book
January 9, 2026
Submission of Preliminary Hearing Plan
January 9, 2026
Hearing (five days)
January 19, 2026