NEWS BRIEFS
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Senior Ledcor executive
resigns after judge
dismisses defamation suit
Dwight Brissette, former senior
vice president for Ledcor, has resigned
from his position less than a week
after a B.C. Supreme Court ruling
found he inappropriately touched a
Cactus Club server and called her an
inappropriate nickname.
The Vancouver Province newspaper
reports Brissette sued the popular
restaurant chain’s Coal Harbour loca-
tion, a manager and server Katrina
Coley for allegedly making malicious
and defamatory statements about him
in front of other people.
The defamation suit was dismissed
in June. Justice Miriam Gropper said
in her judgement she believed the
restaurant employees’ version of
events over that of Brissette, whose
memory of the events that June 24,
2013 evening may have been impaired
by the quantity of alcohol he had con-
sumed Ledcor announced Brissette’s res-
ignation on June 27.
“In response to recent events, Led-
cor’s senior executives and Dwight
Brissette, (senior vice president of
health and safety), met today to dis-
cuss Ledcor’s employee code of con-
duct and
senior executive
expectations,” the company said.
“As a result, Mr. Brissette has ten-
dered his resignation, which Ledcor
has accepted. Ledcor thanks Mr. Bris-
sette for his years of service and con-
tribution to the company.”
Brissette was among a party of
about 10 people, including Ledcor ex-
ecutives and clients, who arrived at the
restaurant around 5:30 p.m. and sat at
a patio table.
“Coley testified that over the course
of the evening the party ordered sev-
eral rounds of drinks and appetizers,”
The Province reported. “She said that
at one point Brissette referred to her
as “Kitty Kat” and that, as she was tak-
ing the order of another patron, Bris-
sette placed his arm on the side of her
CONSTRUCTION ACROSS CANADA
back, slid it down the side of her dress
and rested it on the side of her but-
tocks for about a second.”
The waitress reported the incident
to a supervisor, and then the party was
asked by the manager to settle its tab
and leave.
VCRA receives
BBB Torch Award
The Vancouver Regional Construc-
tion Association (VCRA) has received
the Better Business Bureau’s 2016
Torch Award for Community Excel-
lence, “presented to a business that
blends financial success with a strong
commitment to positive community
impact,” the VCRA says. The awards,
held for nine years, honour B.C. busi-
nesses that show excellence in the
marketplace, community, business in-
novation and the environment.
woman Brittany Kustra.
Farrell said the construction site
could have better accommodated
pedestrians by not closing off the en-
tire sidewalk.
There is “no effort to accommodate
pedestrians,” she said.
Sean Somers, spokesman with the
city’s transportation department, said
there was no other way to accommo-
date pedestrians in this case, as crews
are working on the building’s facade.
However, he said the city has accom-
modated more pedestrians by signifi-
cantly reducing the number of
pedestrian detours.
Edmonton: Building permit
decline shows scale of
Alberta’s economic
recession ALBERTA
Graphic construction
warning sign removed
after Calgary city
councillor objects
Calgary Coun. Druh Farrell didn’t like
what she saw when she observed a
warning outside the Burns Building
construction project in Olympic Plaza.
The sign depicted a pedestrian
striking a car’s windshield and read:
Sidewalk closed. Use other sidewalk.
Farrell said the sign and “the lack of
foot access” shows disdain for pedes-
trians, Metro News reported.
However, Trevor Bryan, the con-
struction manager at the site, said
crews placed the sign because a
pedestrian had been clipped by a car
door mirror after not obeying the orig-
inal sign, which read, “Sidewalk
Closed.” “We put our own signs up
this morning,” he said. “But the city
said it was too graphic.” (DBD Con-
struction says on its website it is work-
ing on a $300,000 multi-level interior
office tenant improvement project on
the historic building.)
The city said it ordered crews to re-
move the sign due to its graphic con-
tent and that it didn’t fall within
guidelines, according to roads spokes-
18 – September 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Data from the City of Edmonton
shows how severely construction has
contracted in Alberta’s capital city.
The city reported $213 million in
total construction value for May 2016,
a decline of 54 per cent from May
2015 and a 46 per cent decline from
the five-year monthly average.
The year-to-date figures are less
daunting, showing a total construction
value of $1,689 million, representing
an eight per cent decline from 2015
but a five per cent increase on the
year-to-date average.
Contractors want to get
started on Ft. McMurray
reconstruction Charles Iggulden, president of the
Fort McMurray Construction Associa-
tion, said his group is mobilizing the
200 companies that make up its mem-
bership, which together employ about
10,000 people, in a co-ordinated effort
to get back to work, The Financial Post
reports. He estimates the rebuild will
take a year or two.
“We are pushing to get some of the
smaller projects going, and the
cleanup,” he said. “The biggest thing
is that as people start rebuilding their
lives, they get back to work so they
come back to Fort McMurray.”
Iggulden said in the published re-
port that Fort McMurray’s construction
industry was working at half capacity
because of the downturn. But it’s
ready to step up immediately, and is
pushing to get the work associated
with the reconstruction. The associa-
tion sent letters to the Alberta govern-
ment seeking bridge financing to get
construction going.
The Financial Post also reports that
Russell Dauk, vice president, land and
commercial, at the Rohit Group of
Companies, said the time is right to
get started because companies such
as his have access to people and
equipment that have not been put to
work in the past 15 months.
SASKATCHEWAN Elevator building
boom continues
An elevator building boom on the
Prairies shows no signs of slowing as
new facilities continue to come online
and existing ones are upgraded to ac-
commodate faster unload times, more
efficient rail car loading and longer
grain trains, The Western Producer re-
ports. In central Saskatchewan, Cargill
and Richardson are expanding existing
facilities at Davidson.
Cargill officials were in the commu-
nity in June to mark the completion of
the upgrade, which included the addi-
tion of four concrete storage bins, a
120 ft. scale with 85 tonne capacity, a
50,000 bushel per hour conveyor, a
160 ft. leg and an expanded 100 car
rail spot.
Richardson is also upgrading its Pi-
oneer facility in Davidson, with addi-
tional steel storage and an expanded
rail car spot.
Jeff Wildeman, Cargill’s regional
manager for Saskatchewan, said the
expansion will increase storage capac-
ity by more than 10,000 tonnes to
roughly 25,000.
He said nearly 25 per cent of Cargill
Canada’s annual investment takes
place in Saskatchewan. The company
has invested roughly $300 million in
the province over the past five years
with major construction or expansion
projects in Clavet and Davidson.
“It’s a great time for us to put more
dollars out because the industry needs
the work and we’re getting better pric-
ing,” Wyatt is quoted as saying.
Wyatt says the city looks set to
save at least $8.65 million on three
construction projects where bids
came in lower than expected this sea-
son, which should be invested now.
ONTARIO OCOT achieves $7.4 million
financial surplus in 2015:
$6 million allocated for
‘long-term strategic initiatives’
MANITOBA Manitoba construction
industry leader fears
government delays,
restraints causing
“Perfect Storm”
A Manitoba construction leader
fears government delays and re-
straints are directing his industry to-
ward a “perfect storm.”
An email obtained by the Winnipeg
Sun, which is attributed to Manitoba
Heavy Construction
Association (MHCA) president Chris Lorenc, claims
the city failed to tender enough con-
struction work and uses a tendering
process that is “so bureaucratic it en-
sures failure.”
This, combined with provincial and
federal cuts, threatens to spark layoffs,
lead workers to leave the province
and/or have companies run out of
work within the next six weeks, the
newspaper reports the email as say-
ing. “The City of Winnipeg’s budget
award process has been nothing short
of appalling; the change in the federal
government and its infrastructure
budget priorities are still unclear; and
we have a new provincial government
which, while in the throes of reviewing
the fiscal situation it is in, has cut the
highway program by $50 million – 10
per cent – and has apparently stalled
further tenders pending review,” the
email says.
The Sun says Coun. Russ Wyatt
(Transcona), who’s taken out radio ads
to pressure council to approve more
road work, said the statement is proof
council must add to its list of projects
for this construction season.
If the Ontario College of Trades
(OCOT) was a private business, share-
holders would be happy with the in-
come statement and balance sheet,
based on documents in the organiza-
tion’s 2015 annual report released in
time for its annual general meeting on
June 14.
The “statement of financial posi-
tion” reports that the OCOT at 2015
year end had net assets of
$28,627,456, an increase of approxi-
mately $7.4 million from the
$19,613,440 in net assets at the end of
2014. The OCOT says it had 232,189
members in 2015, suggesting a sur-
plus of about $31 per member.
A note to the financial statements
says “during the year, cash in the
amount of $6,000,000 was internally
restricted for purposes of long-term
strategic initiatives.” The note doesn’t
say what these initiatives will be but
observes: “The reserve will be in-
vested according to the College’s in-
vestment policy.” Overall the OCOT
had at year end $19,845,348 in cash –
compared to $12,809,266 at the end of
2014. “As anticipated and in line with the
budget, the College achieved an ex-
cess of revenue over expenses,”
OCOT spokesperson Tyler Charlebois
said in a statement. “Part of the excess
of revenue at year end relates to the
fact that membership fees are recog-
nized in the year to which they relate,
advanced billings for next year’s fees
are deferred and recognized into in-
The Canadian Design and Construction Report — September 2016 – 19