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The owner of a construction company based in Teslin, Yukon, says he’s spent nearly $350,000 after the territorial government awarded and eventually terminated a contract for road repair work along the Dempster Highway. Now, he says it’s unclear if he will get that money back.
Ben Clark runs United North Construction Group. He said he was awarded the contract by the Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works to do resurfacing work along various sections of the highway that connects the Yukon to northwestern N.W.T.
He said the contract outlined road work would begin on July 15, but the work got delayed.
Clark said he spent upwards of $250,000 hauling fuel and equipment to a camp he had set up for his crew. Shortly after arriving at the camp, Clark said, the government’s area superintendent told him work would be delayed yet again so his company could complete safety requirements.
Clark said he was going back and forth with the department “providing them with everything they wanted” until one day “all communication had just ceased.”
He said he tried calling and emailing the department, as well as the project’s manager, and did not receive a response.
Ben Clark runs United North Construction Group. He said he spent nearly $350,000 to prepare for work under a contract the Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works eventually terminated. (Ben Clark/Facebook)
Clark said after weeks without hearing from the department, he received an email Friday from Mackenzie Ingram, the director of Yukon’s transportation branch, notifying him that the contract had been terminated.
CBC News obtained a copy of the termination letter. It said the government would be terminating the contract “for its convenience and without cause effective as of September 3, 2026.”
The letter states that there is a section of the contract Clark signed that allows the Yukon government to terminate it “for its convenience at any time and without cause, despite whether the contractor is at default or not.”
It adds that the territory is only required to pay for work that was “actually completed and properly performed up to the date of suspension or termination.”
The termination letter ordered Clark to cease all operations as soon as reasonably possible, except those that are necessary to ensure the safety of personnel and the public or avoid damage or loss to the environment.
It also said Clark is required to stop ordering construction materials and other products and “make every reasonable effort to cancel existing subcontracts.”
Clark said this has put him in a tight spot financially. In addition to the $250,000 he spent setting up the camp on the Dempster Highway, he said he also put up a $98,000 bond to bid on the contract.
Clark said he’s written the department asking for his bond money back.
“We’re a smaller company,” he said. “That’s a large job for us so we’ve turned down a lot of work to make that job happen and now you’re at the tail end of the season. It’s really going to screw up our whole season.
“It’s going to affect the business in a very negative way. I’m going to have to leverage my personal assets to finance my business.”
CBC News reached out to the Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works for comment about the contract with United North Construction Group.
In an email statement Thursday, a department spokesperson said it has been in “regular communication with the contractor throughout this process.”
“We understand that this change creates an inconvenience for the contractor and recognize costs may have been incurred in preparing to undertake the work,” it continued.
“We will work directly with the contractor to address eligible costs associated with the termination in accordance with the terms of the contract.”
The spokesperson said the department has no further comment at this time.