Supreme Court won't hear final Lansdowne appeal

The Supreme Court of Canada has decided it will not hear an appeal ofthemulti-million dollarLansdowne Park redevelopmentproject from Ottawa resident John Martin.

Martin, the main backer of the Lansdowne Park Conservancy, was the second group to launch a legal challenge of the city's partnership with the Ottawa Sport and Entertainment Group.

The first group, Friends of Lansdowne, had earlier questioned the legality of the city's decision to enter into a sole-source agreement with OSEG.

But it lost its legal challenge at theOntario Superior Court and then its appeal at the Ontario Superior Court of Appeal. Friends of Lansdowne said they would not appeal to the Supreme Court.

In March, a lower court rejected Lansdowne Park Conservancy's legal challenge, saying it constituted an abuse of process and awarded the city $10,000 in legal costs. The Court of Appeal also dismissed the case and awarded the city $1,000 in legal costs.

It is not yet clear how much Martin will have to pay the city in this latest failed appeal. In a news release Thursday, the city said it "will be aggressively working to recover costs from the applicant on behalf of taxpayers."

The city was expecting this final legal challenge from Martin in October after it voted to move forward with the multi-million dollar project.

City solicitor Rick O'Connor had also said, "it would be extremely difficult" to get the court to hear Martin's case.