AIM back in court in Saint John to fight suspension of approval to operate
Province asks court to dismiss AIM's bid to quash suspension
Lawyers for American Iron & Metal were back in court in Saint John on Tuesday to sort through a tangled web of court applications.
Even Court of King's Bench Justice Thomas Christie was at a bit of a loss about how to efficiently unravel the intertwined legal actions that continue to grow with each court appearance, including a new document filed on Monday and another on Tuesday.
Christie said he is "afraid that the ultimate question to be decided is months — and I mean many months — away on the path that we're now on."
He also worried that "scheduling is going to be a problem." He said the case reminded him of the circus-type act where people spin multiple plates in the air at the same time.
"You can only spin so many plates," he said.
"The more plates that I have to spin, the more difficult it's going to be to get to the answer that your client needs."
Clarke
Tedesco, a civil litigation lawyer with the Toronto-based firm of
Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP and part of the team representing American
Iron & Metal, leaves the Saint John courthouse on Tuesday afternoon.
(Mia Urquhart/CBC)
Christie suggested to AIM lawyer Clarke Tedesco that he take the opportunity to see if the plaintiffs "want to reshuffle the chairs on the patio here."
With the goal of streamlining the legal process, Christie encouraged both sides to get together to see if they could forge a more efficient path to the heart of the matter.
The legal quagmire began in February when AIM requested a judicial review of the environment minister's decision to suspend its approval to operate after the massive fire at the company's waterfront scrapyard last September.
The New Brunswick government then asked the Court of King's Bench to toss out the company's request. Lawyers for the province filed a notice of motion seeking an order "striking out and dismissing" AIM's application on the basis it has become a moot point, after the company's approval to operate expired at the end of April.
And court filings have only grown since then.
The Sept. 14 fire resulted in a city-wide shelter-in-place order because of hazardous smoke. (Submitted by Ed Moyer)
It now consists of three notices of application, two notices of motion and three referrals — a procedure established by the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, allowing an applicant who has requested access to records to ask that the court review the disclosure provided by the public body, and either order further disclosure or confirm the head of the public body's decision to refuse access.
"It seems to have grown a life of its own, so to speak," said Christie.
After discussing how to approach the intertwined requests to the court for about an hour on Tuesday, Christie established a game plan for the next court appearance on Aug. 8. On that date, "at minimum," said Christie, they will deal with a request from the Saint John Community Coalition for intervener status.
The newly incorporated grassroots group previously known as Liveable Saint John, which advocates for the scrapyard to be permanently shut down or for more stringent regulations, filed a notice of motion last month to ask to be included.
AIM suspended after Sept. 14 fire
Former environment minister Gary Crossman suspended AIM's approval to operate on Sept. 19 because he was "of the opinion that there was an unauthorized release of contaminants" during the Sept. 14 scrapyard fire, in contravention of the Clean Air Act.
The fire burned for two days and prompted a city-wide shelter-in-place order because of hazardous smoke.
It also led to the creation of a task force to examine the fire. The group's final report was released in December and said future fires at the scrapyard are likely, and "a catastrophic fire similar to that of Sept. 14, 2023, could recur."
It also found that AIM's waterfront location, not far from hundreds of west side homes, is "entirely inappropriate given its now known hazards and risks."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Clarke Tedesco's practice focuses on civil litigation and enforcement proceedings before securities regulators in Canada. Clarke has appeared as counsel before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Courts of British Columbia and Nova Scotia, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) (formerly, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA)).
Clarke has worked on a wide variety of commercial and securities litigation matters, including applications under the Business Corporations Act and the Securities Act, professional negligence, fraud actions, and fiduciary litigation, including complex commercial litigation matters. He regularly acts for directors and officers of private and public corporations, and acts for both private and public companies with respect to receivership and valuation applications at the Commercial List. Clarke also has experience in matters involving securities class actions, proxy battles and shareholder disputes, employment matters and defamation.
Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Clarke articled with the OSC, where he clerked for one of the Vice-Chairs and completed a secondment in the OSC's enforcement branch.
Awards & Recognition
Clarke has been recognized by Lexpert as leading securities litigator. In 2018, Clarke received the Lexpert Rising Star Award which recognizes leading lawyers under the age of 40 across Canada. Clarke has also been recognized by Benchmark Litigation Canada as a Litigation Star and one of the top litigation lawyers under 40 in Canada and by Chambers Canada as an Up and Coming securities litigator.
Chambers Canada referee testimonial:
Contact
Direct: 416.217.0884
Fax: 416.217.0220
Email: ctedesco@cmblaw.ca
Robert Brush is recognized as one of Canada’s leading securities and corporate commercial litigation lawyers. In addition to being recognized as Securities Litigation Lawyer of the Year for 2020 by Benchmark Litigation, Robert has been recognized by Lexpert as one of the Top 500 Lawyers in Canada and has been featured in the Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers. He has also been recognized as a leading corporate commercial litigator by Best Lawyers in Canada and as a leader in the field of securities litigation by Chambers Canada.
Robert regularly represents public companies, investment dealers, officers, directors, shareholders, investment advisors and investors in the myriad disputes that can arise in the capital markets. His securities litigation practice includes class actions, proceedings before securities regulators, director and officer liability claims, shareholder and corporate governance disputes, oppression remedy matters, takeover bid litigation, negligence claims against investment advisors and dealers, cyber-fraud investigations and claims in the financial sector, and wrongful dismissal suits against investment firms. He has extensive experience representing individual and corporate respondents before the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) (formerly, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA)), and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).
Robert also has a wide-ranging commercial litigation practice that includes disputes arising out of mergers and acquisitions, breach of contract suits, fraud and cyber-fraud investigations and claims, business tort claims, wrongful dismissal actions and professional negligence suits.
He has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario and, due to his expertise in corporate and securities matters, has been counsel on a wide range of civil cases, class actions and regulatory proceedings across the country. He is a frequent speaker on corporate, securities and civil litigation issues and is a skills instructor at trial practice workshops put on by The Advocates’ Society.
Contact
Direct: 416.217.0822
Fax: 416.217.0220
Email: rbrush@cmblaw.ca