[1] The City of Windsor (the “City”) carried out significant public works along Ouellette Avenue, a major north-south street that is a focus of the downtown area. In 2018, some of those works were planned to be carried out adjacent to the Bull & Barrel Urban Saloon, a business operated by 2266088 Ontario Limited (“226”). 226 leased the property located at 670 Ouellette Avenue to carry on its business and claims that the City’s project interfered with 226’s use and enjoyment of the property. Accordingly, 226 brings a claim for compensation for injurious affection pursuant to s. 21 of the Expropriations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E. 26, as amended.

[2] The Tribunal convened this Case Management Conference (“CMC”) to discuss scheduling the hearing of 226’s claim. Counsel for the parties had discussions prior to the CMC and agreed that a hearing of five days would be appropriate. The Tribunal understands that 226 intends to call two or three witnesses, and that the City intends to call four or five.

[3] Counsel explained that while they would prefer an in-person hearing, they are prepared to proceed with a video hearing, given the uncertainty around COVID-19. Mr. Brode indicated that the City would look into retaining a third-party to provide the video hearing platform.

[4] Based on the discussions during the CMC, the Tribunal is satisfied that the request for five hearing days is reasonable. The hearing is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 29, 2021 for a period of five days. The City shall provide details regarding the video hearing platform at least 60 days before the hearing; in the absence of those details, the Tribunal will provide the parties with connection information for its selected video hearing platform.

[5] The Tribunal directed the parties to ensure that their Procedural Order (“PO”) includes a requirement to submit a hearing plan at least 30 days prior to the hearing, to allow the hearing panel to identify and address any concerns with the proposed schedule. The parties submitted a draft PO following the CMC, which included submission of a hearing plan 17 days before the hearing. The Tribunal has revised the