Minnow Lake group gets day in court over KED

Sudbury's Kingsway Entertainment District (KED) development was back in court on Monday as the Minnow Lake Restoration Group got the chance to layout its argument against the events centre.

The project is on hold as the city and developers now await the decision from the panel of three justices.

Lawyer Eric Gillespie laid out the argument on behalf of the Minnow Lake group, he contends that Mayor Brian Bigger pledged information would be made public about the project at a January 2021 meeting.

Gillespie said there were specific concerns the public and council were looking for in the KED plan, but they were never made available, including details in a June email.

"Democracy matters. So it's the same thing as saying 'meh - there's a majority government, let's cancel question period... what's the point?'" he told CTV News.

"And the point is the public needs to be included in an informed way what the outcomes would be. Maybe they would be the same, maybe they would be different. It's just speculation, guessing, at this point."

But the city refutes this saying there was a lengthy process that goes beyond the specific six months that the Minnow Lake group is looking at.

The city said the KED has been studied for years, there's been lots of public consultation and its council did not act in bad faith. It also said there is no indication Gateway Casinos is pulling out of the project.

The panel of justices reserved their decision. No timeline has been offered on how long they'll need.

In the meantime, the Minnow Lake Restoration Group is also arguing that it is acting in the public's best interest.

If the panel decides against it, the group doesn't think it should be responsible for the city's legal fees.

CTV News has reached out to both the mayor's office and the City of Greater Sudbury and has not received a response by the time of publication.