Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd. v. Ontario (Environment, Conservation and Parks), 2025 CanLII 8427

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: January 27, 2025

CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-001110

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 129(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 32, as amended

Appellant: Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd.

Respondent: Director, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Subject of appeal: Notice of refusal to approve an application for relief from regulatory requirements

Reference No.: 0788-D4SGY5

Property Address/Description: 10152 County Road 43, Mountain

Municipality/Upper Tier: North Dundas/Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001110

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001110

OLT Case Name: Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd. v. Ontario (Environment, Conservation and Parks)

Heard: January 21, 2025 by Video Hearing

Parties	Counsel/Representative*
Appellant: Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd.	Debra Durant*, Sarah Skinner*
Director, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks:	Aziz Ahmed, Madeline Richie, Hannah-Mariah West (Articling Student)

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY GEORGE POLITIS ON JANUARY 21, 2025, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION

1This Decision and Order arises from the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”), held January 21, 2025, regarding proceedings brought under s. 129(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 32, as amended, of the Ontario Water Resources Act (“Act”) resulting from the notice of refusal to approve an application for relief from regulatory requirements for sampling regarding the property located at 10152 County Road 43, Mountain, North Dundas/Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (“Subject Property”).

PROCEDURAL MATTERS

2At the CMC, the Parties provided the Tribunal with an update on the status of the proceedings. The Parties stated that discussions for a settlement were ongoing. The Tribunal directed that the Hearings be set.

3The Parties described the number of witnesses that each intended to call and advised the Tribunal that, given number of expected witnesses to testify, two (2) days would be required for the Merit Hearing.

4The Parties at that time filed a draft Procedural Order and Issues List, which the Tribunal has now reviewed and approves as attached to this Decision as Attachment 1.

5The Tribunal recommended that the Parties request Tribunal-assisted mediation and advised the Parties to contact the Case Coordinator should they wish to pursue this option.

HEARING DETAILS

6The Tribunal has scheduled a two-day (“2-day”) Merit Hearing by video hearing to proceed Wednesday, October 15, 2025 and Thursday, October 16, 2025 at 10 a.m.

[7] Parties and/or Participants and/or Observers are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before it begins, in order to test their video and audio connections: GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/687587165 Access Code: 687-587-165

8Parties 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

9Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting 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) 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The access code is the same as mentioned in paragraph 7 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 Hearing by video to ensure that they are properly connected at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.

ORDER

11THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT there will be no further notice and the Member is not seized.

“George Politis”

GEORGE POLITIS MEMBER

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 1

OLT Case No. OLT-24-001110

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 129(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002, S. O. 2002, c. 32, as amended.

Appellant: Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd.

Respondent: Director, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

Subject of appeal: Notice of refusal to approve an application for relief from regulatory requirements

Reference Number: 0788-D4SGY5

Property Address/Description: 10152 County Road 43, Mountain

Municipality/Upper Tier: North Dundas/Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001110

OLT Case Name: Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd. v Ontario (Environment, Conservation and Parks)

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 Hearing will begin on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 10 a.m. on GoToMeetings at the following link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/687587165

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 2 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.

4. The parties and participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Any person intending to participate in the hearing should provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible – ideally before the case management conference. Any person who will be retaining a representative should advise the other parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number as soon as possible.

8. 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

9. Disclosure: The parties shall provide all other parties a copy of every document that is in their possession, control or power relevant to the subject matter of the appeal (except privileged documents) on or before July 15, 2025. Documentary disclosure will include an index of documents.

10. Witness List: 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 August 1, 2025, and in accordance with paragraph 20 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.

11. Witness Statements: On or before August 8, 2025, the parties shall provide copies of witness and expert statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator in accordance with paragraph 22 below. Witness statements shall attach a copy of any document that the witness refers to in their witness statement and that the party intends to rely on at the hearing. Expert witness statements shall also include a copy of the expert’s Curriculum Vitae and the Acknowledgement of Expert Duty form signed by the expert.

12. Participant Statements: On or before August 8, 2025, participants shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator in accordance with paragraph 22 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

13. Responding Witness Statements: On or before August 18, 2025, the parties shall provide copies of their responding witness statements (if any) to the other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

14. Meeting of Experts: Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before September 5, 2025 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues of the hearing.

15. Agreed Statement of Facts and Issues: On or before September 22, 2025, the parties shall file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator.

16. Joint Book of Documents or Additional Documents to be Relied on: If the parties are preparing a joint book of documents or have additional documents that they will be relying on at the hearing, the parties shall provide the joint book of document or the additional documents to the other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator on or before September 22, 2025.

17. Preliminary Hearing Plan: The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before September 22, 2025 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.

18. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. See Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules with respect to Motions, which requires that the moving party provide copies of the motion to all other parties September 22, 2025.

19. 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 October 3, 2025 that the written evidence is not part of their record.

20. All filings shall be submitted electronically. 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.

21. 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.

ATTACHMENT 1

PARTIES & PARTICIPANTS

Parties

1. Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd. 10152 CR 43 Mountain, ON K0E 1S0 Sarah Skinner / Debra Durant Tel: 613-989-2100 Email: sandymountain@hotmail.com

2. Director, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) Ministry of the Attorney General Legal Services Branch 135 St. Clair Ave. West, 10th Floor Toronto, ON M4V 1P5 Madeline Ritchie Tel: 416-314-6468 Email: madeline.ritchie@ontario.ca

ATTACHMENT 2

ISSUES LIST

The issues for this appeal are as follows:

1. Whether the Appellant should be granted regulatory relief from s. 11-2 in Schedule 11 of O. Reg. 170/03 made under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, s. 32 (“SDWA”), pursuant to s. 60 of the SDWA, by reducing sampling of distribution water for Escherichia coli and total coliforms from weekly to monthly.

2. Whether the Appellant should be granted regulatory relief from s. 11-3 in Schedule 11 of O. Reg. 170/03 made under the SDWA, pursuant to s. 60 of the SDWA, by eliminating the requirement to sample raw water for Escherichia coli and total coliforms.

ATTACHMENT 3

ORDER OF EVIDENCE

1. Appellant – Sandy Mountain Campsites Ltd.
2. Respondent - Director, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
3. Evidence of other parties
4. Reply by the Appellant