All legal action relating to Lansdowne Park's redevelopment is now over. As you will recall, Friends of Lansdowne ended its legal fight with the City of Ottawa some time ago. We were not charged any costs as our challenge fell under the City's public interest litigation policy.

However, a separate lawsuit launched by the Lansdowne Park Conservancy (LPC) has only now been concluded. On January 10, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that it will not hear the LPC appeal. The LPC, which had a competitive bid it wished the City to consider, is being pursued for costs.

Since Friends of Lansdowne was not involved with the LPC case in any way, the latest ruling and cost awards have no impact on our organization.

FUN-draiser for FOL.

All proceeds to Friends of Lansdowne — our law firm, Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, has waived all outstanding legal fees, but we still need to repay them for some disbursements, including the costly photocopying/binding of documents - and yes, there were many!

Thursday, December 6, 2012. 7:30 - 10pm.
$20 at the door or pay-what-you-can.
Catering generously donated by the Glebe Meat Market and Life of Pie.

A new guide to public-private partnerships has just been published by CUPE. Entitled Asking the Right Questions: A Guide for Municipal Officials Considering P3s, available at http://cupe.ca/municipalities/questions-guide-municipal-officials; it may be a useful reference when the detailed final agreements for the Lansdowne Partnership Plan are made public.

The author of this guide is Professor John Loxley who was an expert witness for Friends of Lansdowne in our legal case. You may recall that one of his conclusions was:

"The Lansdowne Partnership Plan fails to adhere to even the most rudimentary norms established for such PPPs—in fact on the basis of my familiarity with other contemporary Canadian examples, it is unique in failing to meet any reasonable procurement standard for a project of its scale and character."

Read his affidavit here: www.letsgetitright.ca/images/loxley1.pdf.

This fun-filled fundraiser has only one serious goal — raising some money towards our outstanding legal costs. It starts with a reception, followed by a screening of the uplifting comedy Local Hero, which pits a giant corporation against the determined citizens of a small Scottish town for control of their land. (Sound familiar?)

All tickets $20. Licensed for alcohol — local Broadhead brew on tap!

Saturday, October 20th starts at 2:00 pm at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street, near Sunnyside Avenue.