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ARTICLE · 10 MARCH 2014

The Last Word On Offshore Wind In Ontario

Gowling WLG
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The Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Trillium Power Wind confirms the relative primacy afforded executive decisions of government.

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
James J. Shanks
James J. Shanks
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The Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Trillium Power Wind Corporation v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Ontario confirms the relative primacy afforded executive decisions of government, while at the same time highlighting the uphill battle that aggrieved parties will almost certainly face in seeking redress for abrupt governmental changes in policy, even when such changes materially, if not disastrously, affect their legitimate business interests. 

The facts of the case are straightforward.  Since 2004, Trillium Power had been proposing to build a wind farm offshore in Lake Ontario, near Main Duck Island off Prince Edward County.  In pursuit of that end, Trillium expended substantial time and money, including applying for a Crown lease of a portion of the lake bed on which the project would be built, incurring significant application fees, and undertaking various other activities, including in conjunction with assorted government

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