A three-year-old ongoing expropriation case between Queen’s and a professor has a ten-day hearing scheduled, according to a recent decision published by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

As previously reported by The Journal, Dr. Dijana Oliver lodged a claim on May 19, 2015 with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) seeking more than $11.5 million from Queen’s over the expropriation of 80 Barrie St. and 9 Arch St. for an expansion of the new medical building.

A psychiatry professor in Queen’s School of Medicine, Oliver has worked for the University for almost 27 years. Oliver’s case was filed under the Expropriations Act, which sets out the rules of expropriation for municipalities. 

The Act lends municipalities the approval authority or public agency to take property if it’s in the public interest—regardless of the land owner’s opinion.

Back in 2008, Oliver was set to sell both properties to an outside company for an agreed upon price of $8,950,000.

According to Oliver’s original claim, before she could finalize the deal, Queen’s informed her that the university would be expropriating both properties, meaning she could no longer move forward with the sale. 

At the time, Oliver allowed the University to move forward with the expropriation. On Feb. 26, 2009, she was compensated the amount of $1,745,000. After six years, she lodged the claim that she hadn’t been compensated properly.

Recently, on Mar. 2, 2018, a pre-hearing for the case took place to determine next steps. 

A hearing was then scheduled just days later on Mar. 5, before being cancelled shortly thereafter. Now, closed mediation has been scheduled for Oct. 18, and a ten-day hearing for Mar. 18, 2019.