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