In addition to our usual commercial law cases, 2024 was an interesting year for me on the public law front.
Some highlights include the honour of acting for the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council (“SNGR”) in a February, 2024, hearing as SNGR attempted to extend the claims period in the Indigenous Day Schools class action. We appeared before the Federal Court of Appeal. At year end, the ruling was still under reserve.
We also acted, successfully, on one of the early combined appeal/judicial review cases, before the Ontario Divisional Court, since the Supreme Court’s Yatar ruling (see Wang v. Li et al., 2024 ONSC 6720 (Div.Ct.)).
We also successfully resisted a motion to quash in the planning law context. The Ontario government, in Bill 185, purported to bar community groups from challenging planning board decisions. A developer tried to quash our appeal on those grounds. The Ontario Divisional Court rejected the developer’s arguments (see Casa Loma Residents Association v. 555 Davenport Holdings Inc., 2024 ONSC 5182 (Div.Ct.)).