Crossed wires reason for document delay in Winnipeg police HQ lawsuit, electrical contractor says

An electrical contractor says itneeds extra time to satisfy a request for documents related to the City of Winnipeg'spolice headquarters lawsuit, because the companydid not receive notice until mid-May for a court appearance scheduled forMay 31.

The city wants the documents from McCaine Electric for thecivil lawsuit it launched in 2020against Caspian Construction and dozens of other companies and individuals involved in the construction of the downtown police headquarters.

McCaine is not among the contractors the lawsuitalleges took part in a scheme to defraud taxpayers.

However, the city has said it needsdocuments from the companytomake sense of millions in excess payments that were made for electrical work on the police headquarters project.

The city filed anotice of motion on May 4 askingCourt of Queen's Bench toorder McCaine to preserve requested documents for use as evidence in the lawsuit. The city said it first requested those documents in September 2021.

That notice of motion bounced between several lawyers before landing with McCaine on May 16.

"I estimate that McCaine will require at least six weeks to conduct a review, seek legal advice, and properly respond to the motion," wrote Mike UnRuh, vice-president of finance for Stuart Olson, which is McCaine's parent corporation andis in turn owned by Bird Construction.

UnRuh says McCaine has located many of the invoices issued to Caspian Construction for the police headquarters project and theycould be retrieved and produced on ashorter timeframe, according to his affidavit submitted tocourt.

The city previously said it would oppose McCaine's request for an adjournment apostponement of a court date because it had first asked Bird Construction's lawyer for documents in 2021.

"Most of the information being requested in the notice of motion was requested from your client eight months ago," wrote Gabrielle Lisi, one of the lawyers representing the City of Winnipeg, in an email dated May 19.

The city's latest court filings say trial dates are expected to be set in this case for the fall of 2023, more than three years after the initial statement of claim was filed.