Court proceedings took place on Monday, June 19 in Guelph, Ont., as the Province of Ontario and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. were looking to have summonses for 13 witnesses – including Don Drummond, Dwight Duncan, Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne – quashed.
The proceedings are part of the civil lawsuit that a group of provincial breeders have brought against the Province of Ontario and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. The lawsuit is in regard to the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks Program back in 2012.
An article on the situation by the Toronto Star has quoted the breeders’ lawyer, Jonathan Lisus, as saying, “The evidence shows that these are the folks who are the only ones who can bring any level of transparency to the decision that was made and imposed in 2012.
“They were directly and personally involved in the decision, its implementation and the response to the harm that was caused.”
Ministry of the Attorney General spokesman Emilie Smith provided a written statement to The Star which states that, “Ontario has brought a summary judgment motion (to proceed in Superior Court) to have the action dismissed on the basis that it does not raise a genuine issue for trial.”
Smith went on to say that, “After Ontario confirmed that it would be bringing a summary judgment motion, the plaintiffs served 15 summonses to witness.”
Smith furthered, saying, “Ontario has brought a motion to quash 13 of the 15 summonses on the basis that the evidence of the summonsed witnesses is not relevant to the summary judgment motion and that the summonses are an abuse of process.”
(With files from the Toronto Star)