Judge orders Melnyk-owned company to turn over documents in LeBreton dispute
A judge has ordered a company owned by late Senators owner Eugene Melnyk to turn over documents in a legal fight with Trinity Development Group about an ill-fated bid to redevelop LeBreton Flats.
The decision earlier this month appears to show proceedings in the years-long legal dispute are moving forward despite Melnyk’s death in March.
Melnyk’s company Capital Sports Management Inc. had been withholding the documents citing solicitor-client privilege with Gowlings, the law firm that worked on the bid. The judge’s decision compels them to produce those documents.
“CSMI shall produce all correspondence, memos, accounts, emails, data, and other documents in its possession, control of power related to the work of Gowlings for RLG and the LeBreton Project from July 23, 2015 to November 23, 2018,” the decision from Justice Robyn M. Ryan Bell said.
Melnyk and CSMI partnered with John Ruddy and Trinity Development Group in RendezVous LeBreton, the bid to redevelop the 50-acre parcel of land just west of downtown Ottawa. The plan, which would have included an NHL arena, fell apart in 2018 over a dispute about Trinity’s nearby development at 900 Albert Street.
Melnyk, through CSMI, sued Trinity for $700 million, claiming the development would reduce the value of the real estate at LeBreton Flats. Trinity Development Group counter-sued for $1 billion, and the two sides have been mired in legal fighting since then.
The start of the trial was recently pushed back by three months to Jan. 3, 2023. It had been scheduled to start in September.
This latest decision centres around documents that CSMI had been withholding citing solicitor-client privilege.
At issue is whether Gowlings, the law firm that worked on the RendezVous LeBreton bid, was working for both CSMI and Trinity.
CSMI claimed there was no joint retainer, and that Gowling was in a solicitor-client relationship with CSMI alone. Trinity’s position is the law firm was jointly retained until litigation between the two sides started.
Bell heard arguments on the matter in January, and earlier this month issued a ruling agreeing with Trinity’s position, compelling CSMI to turn over the documents.
“Based on the totality of the evidence, I find that there was a joint retainer of Gowlings by CSMI and Trinity in relation to RLG and the LeBreton Project for the period July 23, 2015 to November 23, 2018,” the decision says. “A reasonable person in the position of a party with knowledge of the objective facts would reasonably form the belief that Gowlings was acting for both CSMI and Trinity in relation to RLG and the LeBreton Project during this period of time.”
The court has allocated four months for the trial.
Melnyk died in late March at age 62 after a lengthy illness. His death threw the future of the Senators into uncertainty. His estate owns the team and it is being run by an oversight board. Earlier this month, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this month the team is not for sale.
LeBreton Flats, meanwhile, is going through another redevelopment phase. The National Capital Commission received several expressions of interest for a major attraction on the site earlier this year.
It’s believed the Senators submitted a bid to put an arena on that land, but the NCC has not released details about the list. More details are expected at the board’s meeting in June.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.