Another blow to the group opposed to the location for Windsor's new acute care hospital.
The Divisional Court has denied a motion by the Citizens for an Accountable Mega Hospital Planning Process which called for an extension of time to appeal certain parts of a decision issued by the court in July 2020.
This is the third time the group has been shot down by the courts and this time CAMPP must cover more than $27,000 in legal costs to be paid to Windsor Regional Hospital and the City of Windsor.
Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens hopes this is the end of the legal battle.
"We don't want to fight them in court anymore. The land has been purchased by Windsor Regional Hospital. The Province of Ontario came forward just a couple of months ago with $10-million to move this process to the next phase. So we are well underway and we would just rather work with the community to see a great outcome happen."
He says it's time to move on.
"This extensive process has gone on for a number of years to choose this location and get this far. We'd rather work with everyone to make sure that we're delivering great health care services for our entire region as opposed to continuing to fight people in court."
Dilkens says the judge was clear in his ruling.
"Court has said no and, in fact, the judge says, 'There's comes a time when a litigation cause has been lost. It is over. This motion is an attempt to reopen litigation that is concluded,' and in saying that the judge awarded costs against CAMPP."
According to Dilkens, CAMPP now has the option to appeal before a three judge panel via the Divisional Court, but legal costs will be far higher than previous hearings.
The new $2-billion mega hospital is slated to be built on County Rd. 42 and the 9th Concession near Windsor's airport.