Ontario bans contractor after problems with North Bay-area dam project
CTV
An Ontario construction company is embroiled in a lawsuit with the province over the construction of a North-Bay area dam – and the province’s decision to bar the company from bidding on future contracts.
An Ontario construction company is embroiled in a lawsuit with the province over the construction of a North-Bay area dam – and the province’s decision to bar the company from bidding on future contracts.
The centre of the dispute is a $6 million contract awarded in 2019 to HugoMB Contracting Inc. to replace the Tilden Lake Dam, north of North Bay.
Tilden Lake Dam is located at the southern outlet of Tilden Lake, about 30 kilometres north of North Bay, in Lyman Township.
It was built in 1961 and comprises a 4.4-metre high concrete gravity structure with two stop log sluiceways and earth embankments at both sides.
Dissatisfaction with HugoMB’s work led the province to terminate the contract in March 2021. Then in August of that year, HugoMB was barred from bidding on any provincial contracts for two years.
In response, HugoMB triggered a clause in its Tilden Lake contract that sent disputes under the contract to arbitration for resolution.
It submitted several issues for arbitration, but the province objected to a claim by HugoMB for $4.1 million in compensation for the province’s decision to bar the company from bidding on future contracts, referred to as Claim No. 7.
