Originally scheduled for Monday, a court hearing to determine if the loan foreclosure Northern Development Initiative Trust has launched against Commonwealth Campus Corp. should go to trial has been adjourned.
The hearing was put on hold by "general consent," according to a requisition filed late last week at the Prince George courthouse.
No further detail on why the hearing was adjourned was provided in the document and a new court date has not been set, but Commonwealth president Dan McLaren indicated Monday that an out-of-court settlement remains only a remote possibility.
"Yes, there's been discussion [of a settlement] but it's not been productive discussion," he said.
NDIT is seeking repayment of $1.45 million in unpaid principal and interest for money it had lent to Commonwealth to pay for land assembly in the 400 block of George Street primarily for the Wood Innovation and Design Centre but also for development in the adjacent area.
In an affidavit, McLaren alleges NDIT misled Commonwealth with assurances it would purchase the land or find another buyer and has left the company with land whose value is significantly less than the price Commonwealth paid.
McLaren also alleges Prince George MLA Pat Bell urged him to secure the entire 400 block to prevent speculation that would increase the cost of acquiring the land. The intent was to use the WIDC to anchor a downtown campus for the University of Northern British Columbia.
McLaren is claiming damage to reputation and asserted a deal to develop a project in Trail was recently scuttled because of the controversy surrounding the loan and the way the WIDC project has been handled.
None of the allegations have yet been proven in court.
McLaren said NDIT had originally sought Monday as a date for the hearing as a way to pressure Commonwealth to issue a response to NDIT's petition more quickly, only to seek an adjournment once the affidavit was filed. But he also said Monday was a problematic date for his lawyer too.
He hopes to see the matter back in court quickly.
"We've agreed to pick another date by mutual consent but we're very keen for all the reasons you already know to get this thing moving," McLaren said.
NDIT chair Evan Saugstad said he was unable to elaborate on why the date was changed because he has not yet heard back from the Trust's lawyers.
"All I can tell you is the date was rescheduled," Saugstad said.
