The dispute between Radio-Canada and the builder of its new home is again settled before a judge. Broccolini is suing the state-owned company this time for $28 million.
• Also read: The Radio Canada house will cost an additional $17 million
• Also read: “Radio-Canada needs to be a little stricter”
“We knew for a long time that it would end like this. It was only a matter of time,” says a source who knows the case well but is not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Radio-Canada is accused of causing myriad delays and disruptions during construction, which was completed in late 2019, according to the original motion filed June 13 in Superior Court.
The consortium, led by contractor Broccolini, points out that “SRC has generally failed in its commitment to collaborate throughout the project”.
Radio-Canada is a tenant in the new building at the intersection of Avenue Papineau and Boulevard René-Lévesque in Montreal. It will pay the consortium about $22 million per year in rent (including taxes and heating bills) for 30 years.
Trouble with Broccolini began when the building was handed over to Crown Corporation in January 2020. The SRC refused to pay the rent because they felt the building was unfinished.
The matter was resolved in court. More than three years later, the same two parties are before the judge.
“Faulty planning”
This time, Broccolini is charging $28,694,283 for the “significant additional costs” caused by the disruptions and delays.
Out of court, the CBC is accused of not knowing what it wanted when planning and building its new premises.
Among other things, it “showed a lack of coordination and planning” and submitted an “unreasonable number of change requests”.
The CBC has also “experienced frequent changes in its key personnel [directeurs ou supérieurs directement impliqués dans le projet] […] leading to unconsciousness”.
“It is not uncommon for projects of the scale and complexity of the new Maison de Radio-Canada to result in disputes between the parties involved,” said CBC spokesman Marc Pichette.
He adds that Radio-Canada and Broccolini have been in talks on the matter for several months and “that the parties intend to proceed through mediation.”
Broccolini offers exactly the same answer.
Lots of public money
The project for a new home for Radio-Canada came about in 2016 because the old tower was an “unsuitable building,” according to CBC.
It cost $112 million to equip the new premises and $175 million to replace the equipment.
The move of the employees from the old tower to the new glass building was delayed several times. It finally happened in 2021.
The sale of the old tower raised $42 million, but the SRC still rents offices there because the new house is too small for its needs.
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