NEWS BRIEFS
plant near Richardson International Air-
port in 2008.

CBC says RCMP said earlier this
year they are investigating the con-
struction of the mail processing plant,
which was built by the company re-
sponsible for the Winnipeg police
headquarters project — which has
been under investigation for two
years. Both the airport postal facility and
the downtown police HQ were built by
Caspian Construction.

Investigators were permitted to
look at the banking activity in the joint
venture account between July 1, 2008
— the date the contract was signed to
construct the Winnipeg mail process-
ing plant — and Jan. 1, 2016, when
RCMP said Canada Post made its last
payment to the builders.

The Winnipeg Construction Associ-
ation (WCA) said it’s highly unusual for
a company like Canada Post to still be
paying builders six years after a project
was completed.

“Normally the final monies flow
after the building is declared substan-
tially complete by the design team,”
said WCA president Ron Hambley. “At
that point, the builder’s lien holdback
of 7.5 per cent plus amounts for out-
standing items would remain to be
paid.” “Lien holdback is supposed to flow
after 40 days. The other amounts
won’t flow until work is completed,”
Hambley said.

Caspian and AECON declined to
comment to CBC.

ONTARIO Ottawa: Feds offer $1.09
billion for LRT second stage
as city decides on three
finalists for $3.5 billion
project CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA
Three construction teams have
been qualified to compete for the sec-
ond stage of the Ottawa LRT project,
which received a boost on June 16
when the federal government formally
committed as much as a $1.09 billion
for the overall $3.5 billion initiative.

The finalist names are expected to
be announced within weeks. Then the
O-Train planning office, led by Chris
Swail, will bring the project to the
award stage with a report to Ottawa
city council.

Rideau Transit Group, (RTC) won’t
be one of the shortlisted Stage 2 bid-
ders, since it agreed to a $492-million
contract with the city to maintain the
LRT line, provide communication
equipment, expand the maintenance
yard and supply 38 more Alstrom LRT
trains. The overall construction project in-
cludes rail extensions east and west,
as well as an expansion of the first
stage Trillium Line to Riverside South
and the airport, as well as widening
Highway 417 between Highway 416
and Maitland Ave.

There will be 38 km. of new rail built
beginning in 2018. Trillium Line exten-
sions (which RTG can bid on) to the air-
port and Bowesville Rd. in Riverside
South are planned to open in 2021.

Then the eastern LRT to Trim Rd. will
be completed by 2022 and the west-
ern extensions to Moodie Dr. and Al-
gonquin College will be ready by 2023.

The costs of the core LRT and Tril-
lium Line will be shared equally by the
municipal, provincial and federal gov-
ernments. The province and feds will
split extra costs for the $315 million
rail extensions to Trim Rd. and the air-
port. The federal government has already
committed more than $67 million for
34 – Summer 2017 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Stage 2 planning through the first
phase of the Public Transit Infrastruc-
ture Fund last year.

Toronto: Governments
allocate $1.185 billion for
flood protection project
to develop Toronto’s
waterfront area
Federal, provincial and municipal
government have committed to
spending $1.185 billion on the Toronto
Port Lands Flood Protection project
that will lead to extensive develop-
ment of a major stretch of Toronto’s
waterfront. At a June 28 news conference,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario
Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto
Mayor John Tory joined Waterfront
Toronto CEO Will Fleissig to announce
joint the funding for Waterfront
Toronto. The Government of Canada
will contribute as much $384 million to
this project, and the Government of
Ontario and the City of Toronto will
each contribute more than $400 mil-
lion. These investments will help protect
Toronto’s Port Lands from flooding and
lay the groundwork to transform the
underused industrial area into a vibrant
and resilient downtown neighbour-
hood, a news release says.

In the last decade, global warming
has resulted in increased flooding in
urban areas. The project will provide
critical flood protection through the
creation of a naturalized mouth for the
Don River. It will also help clean up
contaminated soil, unlock land ripe for
development, and establish new
aquatic habitats and wetlands that
support native species.

These efforts will help support the
long-term transformation of the Port
Lands into new mixed-use communi-




ties with residential and commercial
development – including affordable
housing – surrounded by parks and
green space.

The Port Lands Flood Protection
project will take approximately seven
years to complete.

These funds are in addition to an
earlier announcement of $65 million in
infrastructure funding under the Clean
Water and Wastewater Fund for the
Cherry Street Storm Water and Lakefill-
ing project. This amount is included in
the total $1.25 billion cost for the Port
Lands Flood Protection project, the
news release said.

Logistec Corporation
acquires a majority interest
in Toronto based FER-PAL
Construction Ltd.

Logistec Corporation, a marine and
environmental services provider, says
it has acquired 51 per cent of the
shares of FER-PAL Construction Ltd., a
trenchless technology company that
offers complete water main rehabilita-
tion solutions, for an aggregate pur-
chase price of $49.5 million, subject to
adjustments. Established in 1986 and based in
Toronto, FER-PAL specializes in water-
main rehabilitation projects utilizing
trenchless technologies of all types
and sizes for municipalities in Canada
and the United States.

FER-PAL has enjoyed a longstand-
ing relationship with Sanexen Environ-
mental Services Inc., a subsidiary of
Logistec, which has developed the
proprietary technology for the trench-
less rehabilitation of watermains, com-
mercialized under the name Aqua-Pipe.

For the year ended December 31,
2016, FER-PAL generated revenues of
$97.4 million and profit attributable to
owners of $8.2 million.

Windsor: LiUNA Local 625
introduces medical
marijuana benefit
An Ontario construction union local
is introducing medical marijuana cov-
erage into its benefits plan, effective
June 15, Benefits Canada reports.

LiUNA Local 625 represents around
1,500 active construction workers and
1,600 dependants and retirees in the
Windsor area. It began researching
medical marijuana coverage two years
ago, motivated by the desire to reduce
the amount of opiates its members
take, says business manager Rob
Petroni. “Our members work in construc-
tion, which is a physically demanding
job,” he says in the published report. If
a worker gets injured, Petroni says
he wants them to have a treatment op-
tion beyond highly addictive opiates,
which can wreak havoc on both bodies
and careers.

“(If) you have an injury, you start tak-
ing a Percocet. Next thing you know,
it’s two Percocet, then it’s four a day. I
would assume that workers, not just
my members, go to work and deal with
pain (by using) opiates.”
The LiUNA plan has two levels of
cannabis coverage: retirees, disabled
workers and dependants — that is,
anyone who isn’t going to a worksite
— will be covered for any type of med-
ical marijuana. Active employees, how-
ever, are limited to cannabidiol oil with
the lowest amount of THC, the psy-
choactive ingredient in marijuana.

Petroni says this approach ad-
dresses employers’ fears “about our
members showing up to work with
THC in their system,” Petroni says.

“And the way we explained it was if
somebody shows up to work and
they’d been drinking . . . they go home.

If somebody shows up high, they go
home. But if somebody shows up on
painkillers, the employer doesn’t know
they’re on painkillers and they continue
to work and I would argue that’s more
hazardous than (cannabidiol) oil with
0.7 (per cent) THC.”
He also suggests the new coverage
could save the plan money. Some
members are taking medication for ir-
ritable bowel syndrome costing
$50,000 each year. If they were to
switch to cannabis oil, that cost would
drop to around $2,400 per year.

The published report says the plan
is implementing a $2,000 cap per
member for the rest of 2017, and will
revisit the limit in January 2018. Over
the first year, it will also track how
many members fill medical marijuana
prescriptions and whether claims for
opiates and other drugs fall, and will
use the data to reassess the coverage.

“Communities across North Amer-
ica are struggling with overprescribed
painkillers in excessively high doses
that has lead to the opioid crisis,”
Petroni said in a news release.

“Our priority at LiUNA is health and
safety, on and off the job site. Being at
the forefront of medicinal cannabis
care will minimize the health risks to
our members and reinforce the
organization’s responsibility to provide
well trained, highly skilled construction
craft workers.”
QUEBEC Police find convicted
Quebec construction boss
Antonino Catania’s body
in river: Foul play not
suspected The former head of a Quebec con-
struction firm who pleaded guilty to
bribery charges earlier this month has
been found dead near his home in Re-
pentigny, CBC has reported.

The body of Antonino Catania, 72,
was found in L’Assomption River be-
hind his home on Lacombe Blvd. by
provincial police divers on July 4.

Repentigny police spokesperson
Guy Bélair said the body was retrieved
20 ft. from Catania’s home. Police do
not suspect foul play.

The Canadian Design and Construction Report — Summer 2017 – 35