Windsor wins latest legal battle with Ambassador Bridge company

Windsor has won the latest legal fight in the ongoing battle with the owners of the Ambassador Bridge.

In a ruling announced Thursday, the Supreme Court decided the City of Windsor's request to enforce municipal bylaws for the upkeep of about 120 derelict homes owned by the Canadian Transit Company should be heard in Ontario Superior Court.

The bridge company wants to demolish the homes it owns on Indian Road and surrounding streets, while the city has ordered them to be repaired.

The bridge company argued it is a federal agency and has rights that supersede the bylaw and the repair orders issued under it.

The Supreme Court concluded the legal fight over enforcement of the bylaws should be heard by the Ontario Superior Court.

The ruling describes the Canadian Transit Company's attempt to take the case to the Federal Court as a "jurisdictional side-show" that created "additional expense and delay in aid of nothing except avoiding a determination of the merits for as long as possible."

"That jurisdictional diversion has cost the public a delay of three years," the ruling states. "In the words of the Federal Court's rules, it is neither 'just' nor 'expeditious' for it to weigh in on these proceedings, needlessly complicating and extending them."

The city has been battling with the bridge company for years in several court cases. Litigation has focussed on a range of issues, including Olde Sandwich Towne bylaws addressing heritage status and property standards issues.