VANCOUVER - A former Cambie Street merchant's successful lawsuit over Canada Line construction could bore a tunnel straight to the courts for other businesses hit hard by fallout from the massive rapid transit project.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge awarded Susan Heyes $600,000 in damages due to business losses from construction of the Canada Line in a decision released yesterday.
Lawyer Joseph Arvay thinks the result will only benefit his clients, who are proposing a class action lawsuit on behalf of all Cambie Street merchants.
The lawsuit has already been filed, but it has yet to be certified as class action, where multiple plaintiffs with similar claims are represented in the same case.
"But it's fair to say we are delighted with the decision," Arvay said.
Heyes, who moved her Hazel & Co. store to Main Street earlier this year, was no less thrilled.
"This is a long time coming," Heyes said of her four-year "nightmare," which, she says, saw her lose $900,000 in revenue due to the construction.
In his decision, Justice Ian Pitfield ruled the controversial "cut-and-cover" method used to build parts of the project was "the sole cause" of Heyes' losses.
It's not clear whether the decision will be appealed. In a statement, lawyers for CLCO said they were still reviewing the decision.
While heaving blame for the construction "nuisance" on TransLink, its subsidiary Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (CLCO) and the private consortium set up to build and operate the line, InTransitBC, Pitfield ruled the government of Canada and the Attorney General of B.C. weren't liable since they weren't technically "partners" in the project despite having funded it.
And the City of Vancouver, as property owner, was spared as well, with Pitfield ruling the city couldn't have known its property would be used "in a manner that would cause a nuisance."
It's not yet clear whether the decision will be appealed. In a statement, lawyers for CLCO said they were still reviewing the decision.
"It will take some time to review the judgment in detail," CLCO lawyer George Macintosh said in a prepared statement.
"Once we have done that we will consider the options available to us."
For her part, Heyes said the entire ordeal could have been avoided had the government and the consortium in charge of building the Canada Line helped offset business losses in the very beginning.
“They had so many opportunities to do the right thing and they didn’t,” Heyes said.
“It’s really gratifying to know that you can take a stand like this and be rewarded for standing up for yourself and standing up for your community.”
Irwin Loy reports for Vancouver 24 hours.
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Maurice Cardinal
2 years ago
Olympic Connection
Here's what I published way back in 2006 in my book, "Leverage Olympic Momentum" about building transportation infrastructure in preparation for the Games;
"Many similarities exist between Sydney, Salt Lake City, Turin, and Vancouver/Whistler. For example, just like Vancouver, all these regions promised to make spectator travel efficient, which meant they had to make substantial improvements to the transportation system. They all failed miserably.
In Sydney, part of their transportation upgrade was also to a rail system similar to RAV, or what has now come to be known as Canada Line. It was sold to the community as a legacy project that would improve the city once the Games were gone, but the reality was that Sydney didn’t need expensive improvements if it wasn’t for the Games. Sound familiar?
The Homebush Bay area was referred to as the Olympic Corridor. In the five years leading up to the Games house prices in the corridor went up radically. Sydney house prices rose seven percent more than inflation in 1998 contrasting a two percent rise in previous years. House prices rose from 13.7-23.6% between 1997 and 1998 within the corridor. Rent also rose by 15-40% in these same areas. It’s hard to imagine, but rates in Vancouver rose even higher, and they did so sooner.
In Sydney they suffered a loss in tax revenue when they transformed commercial complexes into residential and sport facilities. Similar tax hikes occurred in Vancouver after converting commercial space to residential space.
In order to make up for the loss Sydney raised taxes across the board for everyone. It’s the same situation in Vancouver, except in Vancouver they are proposing to raise the rates only for residential properties, because if they raise business taxes, companies will either leave or go bankrupt. New housing developments were a gold mine for developers in both regions who could barely keep up with the influx of people into the region. (hjl54)" end of excerpt
The "RUSH" costs we are experiencing regarding Canada Line can be attributed directly to the Olympics, and if it's Olympic related then the companies generating 2010 profit, Olympic sponsors specifically, should be responsible for it and take the heat off taxpayers.
Athens went through almost exactly the same overrun cost issues with their Olympic related rail line.
Without doubt VANOC is paying careful attention, because eventually class action lawyers will start to connect the dots respective of the recent rise in infrastructure costs and the rush to get everything done for the 2010 Olympics.
This BIG RUSH occurs in all past Olympic regions, and small business owners and taxpayers always get stuck with the tab - until today.
I've maintained for a long time Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, HBC, and RBC pick up these costs.
If you're upset about paying the tab, direct your anger appropriately and maybe you won't be paying for these costs for the next 20 years.
Dan the socialist
2 years ago
It’s the same situation in
It’s the same situation in Vancouver, except in Vancouver they are proposing to raise the rates only for residential properties, because if they raise business taxes, companies will either leave or go bankrupt.
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Go bankrupt? yeah right..I am tired of the whining from these greedy capitalists on this and the minimum wage issue.
However, I have no problem with Vancouver tax payers and Vancouver Tax payers only paying higher taxes, after all they were the only ones allowed to vote on the Games ,people in Burnaby, Surrey and the rest of the lower mainland were not allowed to vote and since Vancouver voted 'Yes', they can pay the bill, the whole bill.