McLennan Ross Secures Positive Summary Judgement for Alberta School District

The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has found “no merit” nor “genuine issue for trial” in an action brought by a property developer against Sturgeon School Division No. 24.

The suit was first filed in June 2016 and involved the sewage lagoon that services Sturgeon Composite High and Namao School.

MR’s David Risling and Sean Parker represented the rural School Division in Ardmore Properties Inc. v Sturgeon School Division No. 24, 2022 ABKB 674. The developer, Ardmore, brought an application for injunctive relief seeking to have Sturgeon stop using the sewage lagoon located at the north end of the school property that had been servicing the school and other properties since the 1970s. Ardmore had also claimed damages in excess of $32 million dollars “due to inability to develop the Ardmore Lands.”

The School Division opposed the injunction application and applied for summary judgment. In addition to dismissing the developer’s application for an injunction, Justice James Neilson granted summary judgement in favour of the School Division dismissing  all of the claims, including the claims of negligence and nuisance, ending the litigation. The Court awarded the School Division full costs in relation to all three of its decisions.