NWT/NUNAVUT
Thirty years after Guy Pemberton founded Dowland Contracting Inc. in Tuktoyaktuk, the Northern construction giant has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Employees of Dowland Contracting Ltd. walked off the site at the $36-million Iqaluit hospital renovation project on May 8. - NNSL file photo
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The documents were officially filed on May 21 in the Judicial Centre of Edmonton, where the company is headquartered, and pertains to Dowland Contracting Ltd., Dowland Industrial Works Ltd., Dowland Construction Inc., and 6070 NWT Ltd.
The file states between these four companies, Royal Bank of Canada, Dowland's bank, is owed more than $83 million as of May 6, with thousands of dollars in interest added per day as well as legal fees.
Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc., an international interim management and corporate restructuring company based in London, is acting as manager and receiver for all properties.
Projects abandoned
In early May, Dowland Contracting Ltd. walked away from an extensive renovation of the Iqaluit hospital due to mounting debts.
Dowland had been involved in the project through a joint venture between NCC-Downland Construction Ltd. and the Nunavut Construction Company.
NCC-Dowland was a joint venture between Dowland Contacting Ltd. and a Nunasi subsidiary, NCC Developments.
Rumours of financial problems started to bubble when word got out that Dowland wasn't paying subcontractors it employed to work on hospitals in the Yukon.
In British Columbia civil court, there are 17 court actions filed involving Dowland in 2012 and 2013, with 16 of them filed in the past two months.
