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Canada’s highest court has declined to review a ruling that sided with the City of Winnipeg against a developer looking to build residential housing in Fort Garry’s Parker lands.
The Supreme Court said in a notice Thursday it’s dismissing an application for leave to appeal submitted by 6165347 Manitoba Inc. and 7138793 Manitoba Ltd., which operate as Gem Equities Inc.
The decision not to hear the case ends a drawn-out legal battle between developer Andrew Marquess, who has claimed for years city officials deliberately slowed progress on the 19-hectare, 1,900-unit Fulton Grove project he planned to build on the Parker lands.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said Thursday he hopes the ruling “puts the matter behind us.”
“I’m glad to see the outcome,” he said in a phone call from Ottawa, where he’s taking part in a caucus of Canadian mayors.
“Now, the focus is on what’s ahead, and what is ahead is developing those lands.”
Marquess’s Gem Equities got the Parker lands in a land-swap deal with the city in 2009. The first draft of a secondary plan for the development was submitted in 2014.
However, Marquess was frustrated with the pace of development on the lands and filed a 2018 lawsuit in which he argued the city and its officials acted improperly when they refused to allow the development to proceed.
In 2023, a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench judge ruled two city officials — former chief city planner Braden Smith and former senior planner Michael Robinson — deliberately stymied efforts to develop the land and were liable for misfeasance. The court awarded Marquess $5 million in damages.
But Manitoba’s Court of Appeal found in April 2025 the King’s Bench judge made “palpable and overriding errors” in the decision, drawing inferences to determine the city officials engaged in unlawful conduct.
The developer was ordered to pay the city legal costs instead.
Following that ruling, Marquess filed for a leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, reaffirming claims he made in his initial statement of claim from 2018.
Canada’s top court said in its notice the developer’s application was dismissed with costs. As is customary with leave applications, the Supreme Court did not give reasons for its decision.
CBC News has reached out to Marquess and his lawyer, Kevin Toyne, for comment.
Winnipeg Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry), who represents the area that includes the Parker lands, declined to be interviewed Thursday.
Gillingham said city staff and the developers have continued to work together to get the land developed, even in the midst of the court cases.
“The latest is the developers requested some extra time to do some more work that they need to do,” he said.
“But the city will continue to work to assist the developer in getting the lands built out. We need those lands developed. There’s a need for more housing in the city of Winnipeg right now.”