The ill fated Appeals Tribunal for NEAC's rejection of the Waterloo Port has lost another member after a second appointee has stepped down. He is Paul Hunt, appointed in early April as the private sector representative and, now - reports tell us - pressure from the Ashcroft Alliance has forced him to recuse himself.
The Alliance has questioned the impartiality of all three current members of the Tribunal including Justice Patricia Farnesse - but only Hunt has capitulated. His predecessor, Lucy Fleming also stepped back, but that was shortly after her appointment.
Hunt held on for months - after the Ashcroft Alliance started pushing for his recusal in early May. Our sources say that he was determined to resist the challenge to his partiality. That is until a private note he had sent to counsel for the Department the Environment in June was shared with all parties. That's when the Alliance pounced and argued that his note betrayed actual bias.
We understand Hunt resisted that conclusion, but, at that point, it probably wasn't worth the fight - and with the urging of the outside legal counsel for the Department of the Environment, he stepped aside in a letter sent on Monday.
There is no word on who the government will choose to represent the private sector.
