Crossed wires reason for document delay in Winnipeg police HQ lawsuit, electrical contractor says
City lawyer says it asked for documents from McCaine Electric in 2021
An electrical contractor says it needs extra time to satisfy a request for documents related to the City of Winnipeg's police headquarters lawsuit, because the company did not receive notice until mid-May for a court appearance scheduled for May 31.
The city wants the documents from McCaine Electric for the civil lawsuit it launched in 2020 against Caspian Construction and dozens of other companies and individuals involved in the construction of the downtown police headquarters.
McCaine is not among the contractors the lawsuit alleges took part in a scheme to defraud taxpayers.
However, the city has said it needs documents from the company to make sense of millions in excess payments that were made for electrical work on the police headquarters project.
The city filed a notice of motion on May 4 asking Court of Queen's Bench to order McCaine to preserve requested documents for use as evidence in the lawsuit. The city said it first requested those documents in September 2021.
That notice of motion bounced between several lawyers before landing with McCaine on May 16.
"I estimate that McCaine will require at least six weeks to conduct a review, seek legal advice, and properly respond to the motion," wrote Mike UnRuh, vice-president of finance for Stuart Olson, which is McCaine's parent corporation and is in turn owned by Bird Construction.
UnRuh says McCaine has located many of the invoices issued to Caspian Construction for the police headquarters project and they could be retrieved and produced on a shorter timeframe, according to his affidavit submitted to court.
The city previously said it would oppose McCaine's request for an adjournment — a postponement of a court date — because it had first asked Bird Construction's lawyer for documents in 2021.
"Most of the information being requested in the notice of motion was requested from your client eight months ago," wrote Gabrielle Lisi, one of the lawyers representing the City of Winnipeg, in an email dated May 19.
The city's latest court filings say trial dates are expected to be set in this case for the fall of 2023, more than three years after the initial statement of claim was filed.
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