The B.C. government cancelled the contract for the second phase of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment, leaving some worried that the project is called off.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Kristy James, the president and chief executive officer of the Burnaby Hospital and Community Foundation, said she learned the government had cancelled the Alliance Contract.<\/p>\n
An alliance contract<\/a> is a \u201ccollaborative contract\u201d with multiple parties. It was composed of BC Cancer, the Fraser Health Authority, Infrastructure BC, PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc, and Parkin Architects Western Ltd.<\/p>\n With this gone, it means that the contracts with the developers and architects are now terminated.<\/p>\n \u201cSo when the project does have a start date, they\u2019ll have to go back through the bid process,\u201d James said. \u201cIn other words, restart the entire project with a new developer and a new architect.\u201d<\/p>\n James said they were not given any reason as to why the government made this decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been reassured over and over that this project is not going to be cancelled. It is moving forward. It is just re-paced. We assumed that just meant a slight delay, and now that the actual contracts with the developers are cancelled, that, to us, signifies a cancellation. That\u2019s not a delay.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Bowinn Ma, B.C.\u2019s minister of infrastructure, told Daily Hive Urbanized in a statement that this is not a cancellation.<\/p>\n \u201cTo\u00a0be clear, the project is still within our capital plan, and we remain committed to delivering improved healthcare for people in Burnaby,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n