Expropriation hearing given a year-long wait before reaching council

Ontario Municipal Board case between Queen’s and medical professor set for 2017

Expropriation claims over the properties that accomodated the Queen's New Medical Building were first filed in 2015.

In the matter of an $11.5 million expropriation claim from a Queen’s medical professor against the University, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has declared a hearing date. 

The case, for which a claim was filed in 2015and the actions involved date back to 2008, is not set to be heard in the Kingston City Hall council chambers until June of 2017. 

“This period is used to provide proof of all statements given,” Dijana Oliver, the professor in question, explained to The Journal via email on August 28. Though she conceded that the case was given the first available date in council, she added that “it has been 7 long years of stress.” 

In 2008, Oliver’s companies, JSN Properties Inc. and Cosmedx Incorporated, controlled two properties on the Queen’s campus — at 80 Barrie St. and 9 Arch St. 

Following what Oliver listed in her claim as an effort to sell the properties for $8.95 million to 114152 Ontario Limited, Queen’s expropriated the properties to accommodate their new medical building. 

Oliver, at the time, was compensated $1.745 million for both properties. Her claim with the OMB alleges that this value was wrongful and decreased compensation for the value of the properties taken. 

Queen’s legal counsel countered Oliver’s claims, filing a Statement of Defense which lists their perceived flaws in Oliver’s calculations and recounting of events prior to the taking. 

A month after Oliver’s claim were filed in May of 2015, the matter was placed on hold, in order to allow for a discovery process to take place at the request of both Oliver’s representation, Shane Rayman, and the University’s representation, Tony Fleming.

As of June this year, both parties remained at odds, resulting in a delay in the scheduling of a hearing. 

The Journal first became aware of the hearing finally being scheduled in August, through the E-Status subsection of the OMB Environment and Land Tribunals. When approached, Fleming noted that the lengthy wait to reach a hearing was at the cause of Rayman’s schedule. 

“The counsel for Dr. Oliver had a series of other hearings scheduled and this was the earliest date that worked,” he wrote via email to The Journal. 

When prompted on the status of mediation between the two parties, he added that “as the matter is before the Board it would not be appropriate to comment on details of the case.”

Speaking to Rayman, he insisted that “that’s how long it takes to get a hearing date before the Board, for a hearing that takes this much time.” In the meantime, both parties were continuing to follow procedural order. 

The hearing is set for the Kingston City Hall Council Chambers at 10:00 am on June 5, 2017.

Tags

Dijana Oliver, Expropriation, legal, New medical building, OMB

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to content