A grassroots group opposed to the location of the new Windsor-Essex acute care hospital has lost another legal fight.
In a five-page ruling issued this week and made public Wednesday, an Ontario Divisional Court denied a motion for an extension of time to appeal a decision made by the court in July 2020. That decision rejected a leave-of-appeal by CAMPP (Citizens for an Accountable Mega-hospital Planning Process), which was filed after a Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT) ruled that CAMPP did not prove the hospital location would cause harm to the region.
Justice D.L. Corbett stated that CAMPP waited too long to file its request for a review, and has called for indemnities to be paid to Windsor Regional Hospital and the City of Windsor.
"There comes a time when a litigation cause has been lost. It is over," wrote Corbett. "In this case, that came when Verbeem J. refused leave to appeal from the decision of the LPAT. This motion is an attempt to continue or re-open litigation that is concluded. The motion for an extension of time is dismissed with partial indemnity costs fixed at $15,000 to the Windsor Regional Hospital and $12,500 to the City of Windsor, both amounts inclusive, and both amounts payable within thirty days."
The ruling was passed along by the City of Windsor. Mayor Drew Dilkens was pleased with the decision and is now confident the project is full-steam ahead.
"There’s been a great deal of taxpayer dollars spent on litigating what is for most a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime project for our entire region, so I truly hope this is the end of the challenges," said Dilkens. "We need this hospital; we have an excellent site for this hospital, and we have the support of the provincial government and the residents of Windsor-Essex to move forward."
Corbett did write that CAMPP does have the right to ask for a review of the latest ruling, since it involved an extension-of-time motion.
CAMPP had been fighting the hospital location for years. While the group acknowledges that a new hospital is needed, it was in favour of a location closer to Windsor's downtown core, closer to much of the city's vulnerable population.
The hospital project was granted funding by the provincial government earlier this year to proceed with Phase Two of the planning. Windsor Regional Hospital now owns the land on County Road 42 where the hospital is set to be built.
