After trying to cancel the CLSC de Rivière-du-Loup relocation contract, the promoters of the Place Témis project will file, within the next few weeks, a lawsuit for damages against the Integrated Health and Services Center (CISSS) of Bas-Saint-Laurent.
As reported by Info Dimanche, the group of investors, made up of Michel Cadrin, Frédérick Soucy and Hélène Godbout, claims that the contract for the new CLSC in Rivière-du-Loup should never have been awarded to the Medway Group, clinic manager medical and real estate developer specializing in the health sector.
The amount of the lawsuit is expected to range between $4 and $5.5 million.
An injunction against the CISSS had even been filed in order to put an end to the relocation project of the new CLSC in Rivière-du-Loup.
This injunction later turned into a suit for damages.
Medway was in default
“Our initial goal was to get the contract. Our contention was that it should never have been awarded to Medway, that Medway was at fault from the start, that it was, as the popular expression goes, “worked out with the views guy”. In compliance with the rules surrounding the possession of a public contract, the project should not have been awarded to Medway,” indicated the lawyer responsible for the case, Liviu Kaufman, of the Julius Légal firm.
According to him, the CISSS did not respect the initial criteria of the call for tenders and for having modified the rules during the process, which would constitute a civil fault.
“The CISSS did not play according to the rules of the game, it even changed the rules during execution,” underlines the lawyer. He maintains that these changes caused a significant loss for his clients, justifying financial compensation based on the value of the contract and lease linked to the CLSC.
The allegations in the suit will be similar to those raised in the previous injunction request. The decision to pursue a claim for damages has been made for some time now.
Know the “story” behind the decision
“It took a certain period to properly assess the damage and it is a complex process, but we are still within the statute of limitations.”
Mr. Kaufman does not expect to see “stories about brown envelopes” come to the surface, but he emphasizes that he does not yet know the “story” behind the decision taken by the CISSS.
For its part, the management of the CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent did not want to comment, since the case is being taken to court.
