The National Trade Contractors Council of Canada (NTCCC) stands with contractors in the province of British Columbia against the recent short-sighted Supreme Court of Canada ruling that dismissed the appeal by contractor J. Cote & Son Excavating.

“The decision effectively upholds 'reprisal clauses' in tender documents to force consultants and contractors who may have a dispute with the city to choose between pursuing their legal options or bidding on city contracts for the coming years,” said Sandra Skivsky, chair of the National Trade Contractors Council of Canada. “These clauses deter contractors from accessing their legal rights through fear of being banned from participation in future projects.”

The clause used against J. Cote & Son Excavating by the City of Burnaby states that the City will not accept tenders from any party that is, or has been within the last two years, involved in legal proceedings initiated against the City arising out of a contract for works or services.

This ruling has serious implications as it allows contractors to be placed on a two-year blacklist that bans them from bidding on city projects. It effectively means that there is no constitutional barrier for municipalities to use reprisal clauses at will, and leaves contractors having to decide between exercising their legal rights or having an equal opportunity to secure major contracts.

The NTCCC will continue to monitor the developments of this far-reaching ruling and the negative implications it will have on the trades industry. The NTCCC welcomes the opportunity to work with its stakeholders to address this issue and work towards developing a more equitable solution.

The Construction Education Council is pleased to announce the latest series of dates in its always-popular Project Management Program.

Book your calendars for the week of March 5 to 9 and March 26 to 30 for this informative gold and blue seal-accredited 10-day course. The course is designed to help you:

• improve the planning and controlling of your projects,
• take a business view of projects and take ownership of a project from bid to final payment,
• increase your own project “lessons learned” by learning from experiences of other
  participants,
• be able and willing to contribute improvements to your company’s project management
  process, and
• be better prepared to take the Gold Seal examination, if you choose.

Check out the attached PDF for more information.

1327: King Edward II of England is deposed.
1785: Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American Dr. John Jeffries make the first crossing of the English Channel in a hydrogen balloon.
1807: Responding to Napoleon Bonaparte's attempted blockade of the British Isles, the British blockade Continental Europe.
1901: New York stock exchange trading exceeds two million shares for the first time in history.
1902: Imperial Court of China returns to Peking. The Empress Dowager resumes her reign.
1918: The Germans move 75,000 troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front.
1934: Six thousand pastors in Berlin defy the Nazis insisting that they will not be silenced.
1944: The U.S. Air Force announces the production of the first jet-fighter, Bell P-59 Airacomet.
1952: French forces in Indochina launch Operation Violette in an effort to push Viet Minh forces away from the town of Ba Vi.
1979: Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge are overthrown when Vietnamese troops seize the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
1980: U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation providing $1.5 billion in loans to salvage Chrysler Corporation.
1985: Japan launches its first interplanetary spacecraft, Sakigake, the first deep space probe launched by any nation other than the U.S. or the USSR.
1989: Prince Akihito is sworn in as Emperor of Japan, following the death of his father, Hirohito.
1990: Safety concerns over structural problems force the Leaning Tower of Pisa to be closed to the public.
1993: The Bosnian Army carries out a surprise attack on the village of Kravica in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War.
1999: The impeachment trial of U.S. President Bill Clinton opens in the U.S. Senate.

Source: HistoryNet.com