Midfield Mobile Home Park, which had been slated to close at the end of this month, will stay open a little longer after a Calgary lawyer requested a court injunction that would delay the park’s closure.
“There was a lot of nervous people in the courtroom that were worried we weren’t going to be able to stop the city from having them out on Sept. 30,” said Mathew Farrell, a barrister and solicitor with the Guardian Law Group, describing the court proceedings.
LISTEN: Lawyer Mathew Farrel on the court injunction delaying the closure of Midfield Park
“But we were able to get that done, so I think people were pretty pleased. At least initially, until they thought about, ‘well, there’s still a fight to come.’”
LISTEN: Ward 7 council candidate Dean Brawn on the court’s decision to delay the closure of Midfield Park
On Monday, a judge ruled the city would not be able to close the park until Nov. 22, which is when the case will be back before the courts.
The decision means the residents who have remained will not have to move out before that date.
Farrell has said the city does not have the “legal right” to evict the Midfield Park residents.
Ward 7 council candidate Dean Brawn, has set up a GoFundMe page for the Midfield Residents, which he says will continue to raise money to fund the impending legal fight.
“If there’s only one person there, I’m going to fight for them,” he said.
He admitted there is only a handful of people left in the park but said that shouldn’t matter.
“These folks have essentially been told to declare bankruptcy and forfeit your business… and live on the street.”
Farrell said Monday’s court ruling is a “victory” and it will allow them to “fight the fight they want.”
He added that those who’ve already left will not be able to return to Midfield Park, but said the injunction does give residents who stayed behind a “few options.”
“It creates a lot of options for people and I think the people now are going to get to think about what they want to do rather than just doing what they thought they had to do,” Farrell said.
News Talk 770 reached out to Mayor Naheed Nenshi but did not receive a response by publication time.