Sudbury construction company, Ontario government embroiled in $20M lawsuit over Hwy. 69 widening
A Sudbury construction company is suing the Ontario government, arguing the contract it signed to expand part of Highway 69 incorrectly estimated the amount of rock that would be leftover at the end of the project.
The $20 million suit centres on whether the province incorrectly estimated the amount of rock, as Bot Construction claims, or whether the excess rock is a result of the way it was blasted, as the Ontario government claims.
Lawyers for the company argue the excess rock is a result of a design error, as well as errors estimating the extent to which crushed and broken rock takes up more volume than rock sitting in the bank.
Bot argues that its bid for the work was much lower than it should have been because of the errors. It said the amount of rock it had to deal with was "approximately 26 times more than was estimated."
"The plaintiffs’ position is that this case is fundamentally about whether two pieces of information provided by the defendant to bidders on the contract were incorrect and if so, was the price the plaintiffs’ bid for the contract artificially deflated by its reliance on that incorrect information," said a court transcript of the latest hearing on the case, released May 31.
In response, lawyers from the province said Bot is responsible for the excess rock because "of the way it conducted the work on the project."
"The defendant asserts that the source of the additional rock is the drilling and blasting techniques employed by the plaintiffs and its subcontractors," the transcript said.
"Specifically, one source of additional rock would be over-blasting by the plaintiffs: blasting beyond the design lines of the contract, also referred to as 'overbreak.' While over-blasting is permitted, disposal of any additional rock generated by over-blasting would be the responsibility of the plaintiffs."
The province argued that Bot should have to provide extensive documentation on their blasting techniques to determine whether that was the cause of the excess rock.
But Bot argued their case is based on arguments the information provided the province in the contract was incorrect, leading the company to bid too low. Specific blasting techniques, they argue, aren't relevant.
While largely finding for Bot, the judge in the case said the company had to say whether an expert report they had prepared would allow them to answer how much they would have bid on the contract at the time, if the alleged design errors had not been made.
"If the report did provide them with sufficient information/data to answer how they would have bid but for the design error, they must also answer that question," the judge ruled.
"If they do not have the data/ information to respond, they are not required to do so, because that would impose an undue burden of work."
Read the full transcript here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.