Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Oct 26/01) - The engineering company hired to construct the sewage treatment plant is suing the Village of Fort Simpson.

Camillus Engineering Consultants Ltd. (CECL), of Yellowknife, has filed suit for in excess of $2.1 million in lost business, profit and credit as well as legal fees and other damages.

The village, former mayor Norm Prevost, former senior administrative officer Bruce Leclaire and the Commissioner of the NWT are all named in the civil suit.

CECL has a separate $673,099.15 claim of lien against the property that is still pending as well.

The village signed the $1.87-million sewage treatment plant contract with CECL in 1999. There were subsequently delays in construction due to a number of disputes.

"Filing this lawsuit was my last option to clear the logjam ... it was not an option I favoured at all," said Cam Marianayagam, president of CECL. "We have compiled a significant amount of evidence and corroborating statements to back up each and every allegation."

The lawsuit accuses the village of failure to pay invoices, failure to proceed with arbitration, interference with work, failure to obtain sufficient funding and acting in bad faith.

Prevost and Leclaire are cited for breach of confidence and acting in bad faith. Prevost is also accused of abuse of office.

There is a further charge of conspiracy against the village, Prevost and Leclaire.

The Commissioner of the NWT is named because the village's appointed engineer on the project was an employee for the Department of Public Works and Services. The commissioner is therefore accused of negligence and misrepresentation. It will be up to the court to decide how much each party must pay, if anything.

Tom Wilson, mayor of Fort Simpson, said the village has retained a lawyer and spent the past year building its case.

The village served Marianayagam with a letter of default and breach of contract. It paid CECL $1.7 million by Jan. 20, 2000.

Sub-contractors Kiwi Electric and JSL Mechanical, which had outstanding invoices, filed claims of lien against the property as did Foothills Industrial Systems Ltd., of Calgary. CECL has a separate lawsuit against Foothills, Marianayagam noted.

Rightway Coatings is owed money as well.

Wilson said the village is still trying to clear up the liens so the sub-contractors can be paid.

Marianayagam suggested that his lawsuit, if successful, will be of benefit to the sub-contractors.

"The opportunity for the sub-contractors is, if we win, they can get in and make their own claims," he said. "Somebody has to take the bull by the horns."