TORONTO - An Ontario Court of Appeal tribunal quickly rejected an attempt Thursday by Harvest Picnic promoter Jean-Paul Gauthier to overturn a Hamilton judge's decision tossing out his multi-million-dollar suit against one of Canada's largest talent agencies.

Gauthier's lawyer Kevin Fernandes argued that Hamilton Superior Court Justice Whitten had shown bias against his client's Indigenous (M�tis) heritage in a January ruling that dismissed Gauthier's civil suit against the Feldman Agency. Feldman represented several recording artists scheduled to perform at the 2016 Harvest Picnic at Christie Lake Conservation Area, including Jann Arden, who cancelled due to illness a few days before the festival's start.

After less than 45 minutes of discussion and a 15-minute recess, the three Appeal Court justices returned to reject Fernandes's argument in a decision from the bench and order Gauthier to pay Feldman $8,500 in court costs.

"In our view, this argument is specious," pronounced Appeal Court Justice David Doherty in rejecting the appeal, along with Justice Harry LaForme and Justice David Paciocco.

In attempting to prove Whitten's bias, Fernandes referred to a line in the Hamilton judge's written decision which includes "the plaintiff pleads that numerous local entities (it is amazing he did not include the local animal life) will be affected."

The reference caused Appeal Court Justice Harry LaForme to announce that he too was Indigenous, but "I don't see that as the slightest bit offensive."

LaForme went on to suggest that Fernandes' argument could be seen as "trivializing" the real issues that Indigenous people face in Canada.

Fernandes had also argued that Whitten had erred in interpreting the contracts Gauthier's September Seventh Entertainment Ltd. had entered into with Feldman, placing too much emphasis on exclusion clauses that limited Feldman's liability. The Appeal Court judges also sided with Whitten's ruling on this issue and again rejected Fernandes' arguments.

In the original suit, Gauthier accused Feldman of breaching certain contract provisions known as "radius clauses," which prohibited acts from performing in the area for a set time period before or after the festival.

While the case against Feldman was dismissed, suits filed by Gauthier against several other defendants, including country star Johnny Reid and the Cowboy Junkies, remain pending. Reid has also filed a countersuit against Gauthier, claiming he was paid only half his $175,000 fee for playing the Picnic. In all, Gauthier was originally seeking some $27 million in damages.

The 2016 Harvest Picnic was the fifth instalment of the festival. The three-day festival failed to draw large crowds and many of the musical acts have not been paid for their performances.