Elizabeth Stewart had hoped her husband’s lawsuit surrounding the Allandale Station land would come to a close on Tuesday in Barrie court.
However, she’ll have to wait a little longer to see the outcome.
Regardless of that outcome, Stewart said she’s relieved now that the evidence has been given and the outcome is in the judge’s hands.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Stewart said after court on Tuesday. “We know we’re right. We know what happened.”
Stewart is embroiled in a lawsuit on behalf of her husband, Robert Stewart, and his former business Indicom Appraisal Associates Inc., against the City of Barrie over an appraisal report that made its way into the hands of a prospective buyer of the Allandale Station land, Correct Group Inc. (CGI), starting a legal battle that has spanned nearly a decade.
At the crux of the lawsuit is how the appraisal document got into CGI's hands, setting off the lawsuits with the City of Barrie and Indicom listed as co-defendants.
According to Indicom, the City of Barrie handed those documents over to CGI, breaching their contract with Indicom.
The City of Barrie contends it did not hand over the documents.
As Robert is currently at home in palliative care battling cancer, Elizabeth has been attending proceedings on his behalf.
On Tuesday, Deputy Judge John Rose heard evidence and arguments on the case.
For our original story on the details behind this lawsuit, click here.
On Tuesday in court, paralegal for the plantiff Lawrence Pomfret only called one witness to the stand: Elizabeth Stewart.
Stewart was the administrator and office manager for Indicom since the 1980s. She outlined how the City of Barrie and Indicom had enjoyed a long working relationship, with Robert providing appraisal services for the city for over 30 years starting in 1985.
“On average, he probably did three appraisals a year over 30 years,” Stewart told the court.
According to the statement of claim and Stewart’s testimony, the City of Barrie retained the services of Indicom in July 2010 to appraise the Allandale Station land at 285 Bradford St., in Barrie. Indicom alleges that the City of Barrie shared the appraisal report with CGI, which was a prospective purchaser of the property, without their authorization.
According to the City of Barrie’s defence filing, they never released the documents without Indicom’s consent. However, according to court of appeal documents, the appraisal documents were released.
The letter of engagement, which was signed by Stewart and a representative of the City of Barrie in July 2010, indicates that the working papers and appraisal documents are the property of the appraiser. The letter also states that the client, the City of Barrie, is not authorized to reproduce the analysis without written consent from the appraiser.
The City of Barrie legal counsel Peter Krysiak opted to not cross-examine Elizabeth Stewart, nor did he call any witnesses to give evidence on the City of Barrie’s behalf.
“We did that for the sake of Mrs. Stewart,” Krysiak said in an interview with BarrieToday after court had adjourned for the day. “She is in a tough spot with Mr. Stewart being in palliative care and bringing in witnesses would rehash a lot of things for her and we don’t want to put her through that. It’s the same reason for why we didn’t cross-examine her. I don’t want to make her feel worse than she already does.
“It was a conscious decision that we made. She deserves that much,” Krysiak added.
“Usually, the Small Claims Court gives its decision right away, but here, because of how little evidence there was, and how many legal issues there were, this is a case where the court needs more time to really grasp everything and understand and see how everything connects,” he said.
The history of legal disputes relating to the Allandale Station land dates back many years.
In February 2008, the city issued a call for proposals to develop the station land, and in 2009, the city signed on with CGI to develop the nine-acre site. Also in on the prospective project to incorporate the 1905-era series of buildings was the YMCA of Simcoe-Muskoka. The YMCA pulled out in January 2010 because of growing financial risk due to environmental concerns and the discovery of Native remains on the property.
In 2010, CGI filed its first lawsuit, then $28 million. In 2011, the Brampton-based developer claimed breach of contract and bad faith and expanded it to $40 million to include damages to its reputation, slander, negligence and false representation.
CGI also subsequently targeted city officials and staff who allegedly misrepresented the condition of the site as well as allegedly divulged confidential information. The total of the claims reached $79 million.
While many of the CGI lawsuits have been dismissed, some are still making their way through the courts. Indicom is named as a co-defendant on the CGI lawsuits.
Back in the courtroom on Tuesday, Krysiak argued that the Court of Appeal document that says that CGI received the appraisal document from the City of Barrie must have been written without understanding or in error, as after combing through testimony from both the plaintiff and defendant in that case, the assertion is nowhere to be found.
“The first time the city became aware of that statement is when the Court of Appeal issued its decision,” said Krysiak. “The Court of Appeal simply could have misread the reasons for the decision.”
Krysiak also argued that Small Claims Court is the wrong venue for Indicom to be looking for costs, since the Superior Court action with CGI has not yet concluded.
“The other court has not yet made a decision on costs. This court can’t grant these amounts knowing that another court might grant those amounts,” he said.
Krysiak conceded there are moral implications to fighting the lawsuit.
“This claim cannot be substantiated. We don’t feel good about this, but we have a responsibility to the taypayers to not grant funds that are not there,” he said.
Indicom and Stewart are asking the City of Barrie for $25,000, the maximum amount allowed in Small Claims Court, despite their detailed list of expenses exceeding that amount.
Deputy Judge Rose indicated in court on Tuesday that a written decision would be available by next week.
