1188683 Ontario Inc. v. Ontario (Ministry of Transportation), 2026 CanLII 44805

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: May 06, 2026

CASE NO(S).: OLT-26-000034

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

Claimant: 1188683 Ontario Inc.

Respondent: HMK in right of Ontario as represented by the Ministry of Transportation

Description: Determination of compensation

Reference Number: Expropriation Plan TY90861

Property Address: Part of Mining Location 7, H.P. Savigny's Survey, in the Geographic Township of MacGregor, in the Municipality of Shuniah, designated as Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 on Expropriation Plan TY90861

Municipality/UT: Shuniah/Thunder Bay

OLT Case No.: OLT-26-000034

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-26-000034

OLT Case Name: 1188683 Ontario Inc. v. Ontario (Ministry of Transportation)

Heard: April 16, 2026 by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel

1188683 Ontario Inc. (“Claimant”)

Paul Scargall Doron Lurie Michael James

His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Transportation) (“MTO”)

Edmund Huang Mariam Gagi

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY JEAN-PIERRE BLAIS ON APRIL 16, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1The Claimant has filed a compensation claim against the MTO under section 26(1) of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26, as amended, with respect to lands described as Part of Mining Location 7, H.P. Savigny's Survey, in the Geographic Township of MacGregor, in the Municipality of Shuniah, designated as Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 on Expropriation Plan TY90861.

2On April 16, 2026, the Tribunal held a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) to organize this proceeding.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SETTLEMENT

3Counsel for the Parties advised that they are aware of Tribunal assisted mediation

4The Parties are directed to advise the Tribunal, as soon as possible, of any settlement, and are encouraged to narrow the issues.

NEXT STEPS

5A draft Procedural Order was not provided to the Tribunal prior to the CMC. However, Counsel informed the Tribunal that they had largely agreed on the content of Procedural Order and undertook to file it with the Tribunal. They also requested that the Tribunal should set a nine-day Hearing. Accordingly, the Tribunal directed that a final draft Procedural Order was to be filed on or before Thursday, April 23, 2026 and that a nine-day Hearing be scheduled to proceed commencing on Monday, March 15, 2027 at 10 a.m.

6On April 23, 2026, the Claimant requested that the Hearing be heard in person. The MTO took no position on this request. After consideration by the Tribunal’s Chair, and given further exchanges, it was determined that this matter would be scheduled as a hybrid in person hearing at:

Hearing Room 1413 655 Bay Street, 14th Floor Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K4

7Individuals are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before the it begins to test their video and audio connections.

GoTo Meeting: https://meet.goto.com/680885805

Access code: 680-885-805

8Individuals 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 GoTo Meeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html.

9Individuals 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: +1-647-497-9373 or (toll-free) +1-888-299-1889. The access code is: 680-885-805.

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 event to ensure that they are properly connected at the correct time. Questions prior to the event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.

11As of March 30, 2026, all hearing events are governed by the Tribunal’s Artificial Intelligence Practice Direction. This Practice Direction requires a party, participant, or witness to include a declaration within each submitted document if generative AI was used to create or generate content. A paragraph to this effect has been added to the Procedural Order.

ORDER

12THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS:

a. The direction in this Decision; and,

b. The Procedural Order, attached as Attachment A to this Order, is approved.

“Jean-Pierre Blais”

JEAN-PIERRE BLAIS

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

Procedural Order

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 26(1) of the Expropriations Act,

R.S.O. 1990, c. E.26, as amended

Claimant: 1188683 Ontario Inc.

Respondent: His Majesty the King in Right of the Province of Ontario, as represented by the Ministry of Transportation for the Province of Ontario

Description: Determination of compensation

Property Address: Part of Mining Location 7, H.P. Savigny's Survey, in the Geographic Township of MacGregor, in the Municipality of Shuniah, designated as Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 on Expropriation Plan TY90861

Municipality: Shuniah/Thunder Bay

OLT Case No.: OLT-26-000034

OLT Case Name: 1188683 Ontario Inc. v. Ontario (Ministry of Transportation)

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 March 15, 2027 at 10 a.m.

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 9 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 identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1 (see meaning of terms below).

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, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.

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. A party or witness who intends to submit document(s) to the Tribunal must include a declaration within each submitted document if generative AI was used to create or generate content. A declaration is not required if AI was used to merely suggest changes, provide recommendations, or critique content already created by a human who then considered and manually implemented the changes.

Requirements Before the Hearing

8. The parties shall exchange affidavits of documents by Friday, June 26, 2026.

9. Examinations for discovery shall be conducted by Monday, August 24, 2026. Answers to undertakings shall be delivered on or before Thursday, October 8, 2026.

10. The parties expert reports are to be exchanged by Thursday, October 15, 2026.

11. Reply expert reports are to be exchanged by Monday, November 30, 2026.

12. Mediation is to be conducted by Friday, January 15, 2027.

13. 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 Friday, December 18, 2026 and in accordance with paragraph 25 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.

14. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before Friday, December 18, 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 Tuesday, January 19, 2027.

15. 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 as in paragraph 17 below. 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.

16. 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 as in paragraph 17 below. 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 17 below.

17. On or before Friday, January 29, 2027, 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 25 below.

18. On or before Monday, February 8, 2027, the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

19. On or before Monday, March 8, 2027, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 25 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

20. 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 and in accordance with paragraph 25 below.

21. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book and a joint compendium of witness statements, bookmarked in PDF format with hyperlinks to all items listed in any table of contents, which shall be filed with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before Monday, March 1, 2027.

22. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. A party seeking to limit or exclude any oral or written evidence must file a written motion for that relief by on or before February 1, 2027 .

23. 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.

24. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before Thursday, March 4, 2027 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 during the hearing.

25. 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.

26. No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except pursuant to Rule 17.

Meaning of terms used in the Procedural Order:

A 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. An unincorporated group cannot be a party, and 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.

NOTE that a person who wishes to become a party before or at the hearing, and who did not request this at the case management conference (CMC), must ask the Tribunal to permit this.

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.

Additional Information

A summons may compel the appearance of a person before the Tribunal who has not agreed to appear as a witness. A party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons through a request. (See Rule 13 on the summons procedure.) The request should indicate how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the information provided in the request that the evidence is relevant, necessary or admissible, the party requesting the summons may provide a further request with more detail or bring a motion in accordance with the Rules.

The order of examination of witnesses is usually direct examination, cross-examination and re-examination in the following way:

• direct examination by the party presenting the witness;
• direct examination by any party of similar interest, in the manner determined by the Tribunal;
• cross-examination by parties of opposite interest;
• re-examination by the party presenting the witness; or
• another order of examination mutually agreed among the parties or directed by the Tribunal.

Attachment 1

Case Management Conference Attendance List

His Majesty the King in right of Ontario (“HMKRO”) as represented by Ministry of Transportation (“MTO”)

Edmund Huang Mariam Gagi

1188683 Ontario Inc.

Paul Scargall Doron Lurie Michael James

Attachment 2

Issues List

As outlined in the pleadings served and filed by the parties.

Attachment 3

Order of Evidence

Opening Statement by Claimant: 1188683 Ontario Inc.

½ day

Opening Statement by HMKRO as represented by MTO

½ day

Claimant: 1188683 Ontario Inc.

Evidence in Chief and Cross-examination

3 ½ day

Respondent: HMKRO as represented by MTO

Evidence in Chief and Cross-Examination– Ministry Witness

3 ½ day

Closing Submissions

½ day