‘Unjustified’: Contractor taking Ontario to court after being fired from school project
Global News
Van Horne Construction sues Ontario after its Parry Sound JK–12 school contract was terminated, citing unfair treatment and board governance failures.
A contractor removed from a long-delayed northern Ontario school project says it is taking the province to court, calling the decision to terminate its contract “unjustified” and “fundamentally unfair.”
Van Horne Construction Ltd., which was building the Parry Sound JK–12 school, said it is pursuing legal action after claims that Ontario’s Minister of Education, Paul Calandra, directed the termination of its contract earlier this week.
“This decision is unjustified, unsupported by the facts, and fundamentally unfair,” the company said in a statement to Global News, arguing the province wrongly blamed the contractor for delays tied to governance and oversight failures by the Near North District School Board.
Van Horne said it “categorically rejects any suggestion that our work, conduct, or capability warranted termination,” adding that it met its contractual obligations and acted in good faith throughout the project.
The company said it repeatedly raised concerns about issues beyond its control, including permitting challenges, decision-making delays and structural problems in the project’s oversight and approval process.
They also stated that these problems were “well documented and predated any claims now being made about contractor performance.”
“Multiple independent reviews and public reporting have established that this project suffered from serious administrative and governance failures at the Board level,” the statement said.
“Against that backdrop, the Province’s decision to single out the contractor is inaccurate and misrepresents the root causes of delay and dysfunction on this project.”
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