{"id":780129,"date":"2026-07-04T16:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/780129\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T16:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:43:11","slug":"fired-skytrain-manager-blames-scapegoating-for-cost-overruns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/780129\/","title":{"rendered":"Fired SkyTrain manager blames scapegoating for cost overruns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former project manager claims contractors wrongfully fired him to deflect blame from supply delays plaguing the $6B Surrey-Langley expansion<\/p>\n

A project manager overseeing a SkyTrain expansion south of the Fraser River claims he was \u201cscapegoated\u201d after the project was plagued with cost overruns.<\/p>\n

Ahmed Salih made the claims in a June 25 petition to the B.C. Supreme Court. The lawsuit claims he worked for about a year and a half as one of the project managers and signing authorities for B.C.\u2019s SkyTrain expansion project linking Surrey\u2019s King George Station to Langley City Centre.<\/p>\n

Salih claims he served as a liaison to labour unions, helped onboard more than 150 employees, and managed millions of dollars\u2019 worth of subcontractors.<\/p>\n

That included managing the installation, set-up and operation of a concrete batch site\u2014where the raw ingredients used to make concrete are combined and mixed in precise quantities.<\/p>\n

Instead of buying ready-mix concrete from an outside supplier and trucking it in, massive infrastructure projects will often set up a temporary or dedicated batch plant right on or near the construction site, according to Jason Saunderson, executive director of Concrete BC.<\/p>\n

The idea is to save money and time. Mixing your own concrete also project managers\u00a0to maintain control over quality\u2014especially important when the work involves pre-casting sections of the elevated SkyTrain guideway.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiterally every single piece is an engineering challenge,\u201d said Saunderson. \u201cThey might look the same, but there\u2019s not a single piece that\u2019s identical.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nA precast concrete facility in Surrey, where SkyTrain guideway segments are produced and stored, Feb. 11, 2026. | B.C. Ministry of Transportation <\/p>\n

About a year ago, Saunderson said he visited a Surrey worksite where workers were casting concrete sections for the SkyTrain’s elevated guideway.\u00a0At the time, he said the batch plant on site was not operational and the project managers were still buying concrete on the open market.<\/p>\n

According to Salih\u2019s lawsuit, the principals at Con-Force Structures Ltd. signed contracts with third parties to build\u00a0the concrete\u00a0batch site before hiring him.<\/p>\n

The company is named as defendants in the petition alongside Rizzani De Eccher Inc., Dragados Skyline GP Inc., and SL SkyTrain Project Limited Partnership.<\/p>\n

Together the petition alleges the companies formed the entity RDLC Constructors General Partnership to advance the SkyTrain expansion project.<\/p>\n

At one point, the contracted third-party companies allegedly faced manufacturing delays. Instead of producing the concrete onsite, the RDLC partnership was forced to buy the basic material at market prices.<\/p>\n

That led to \u201cconsiderable\u201d cost overruns and delay in the overall project schedule, according to the petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest danger that any of these projects face is delays,\u201d said Saunderson, who is not involved in the legal action.<\/p>\n

The court document does not quantify how much more money was spent as a result of not having its own concrete facility set up.<\/p>\n

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\nWorkers pour concrete into a mold for a SkyTrain guideway segment, March 31, 2025. | B.C. Ministry of Transportation <\/p>\n

SkyTrain expansion already faced delays, cost overruns<\/p>\n

The SkyTrain expansion project had already seen its costs balloon in recent years.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 15, 2024, the B.C. government said the project\u2019s forecasted cost had already risen to nearly $6 billion<\/a>\u2014a 50 per cent increase from the previous $4 billion estimate.<\/p>\n

A B.C. government news release at the time said the increase was due to \u201cmarket conditions,\u201d including inflation, supply chain pressures and the rising cost of key commodities.<\/p>\n

It also listed Dragados Canada Inc. as one of three partners that would design, build and finance the SkyTrain project\u2019s elevated guideway, associated roadworks, utilities and active transportation elements.<\/p>\n

Construction began on the project\u00a0in January 2025, according to a government bulletin.<\/p>\n

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\nA launching gantry installs guideway segments outside the Bakerview-166 Street Station as part of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension project, Sept. 22, 2025. | B.C. Ministry of Transportation <\/p>\n

\u200bBy May 8, 2026, eight stations along the 16-kilometres extension were under construction and more than 30 per cent of the elevated guideway had been completed using segments of precast concrete from a facility in South Surrey, according to the province.<\/p>\n

At the time, B.C. Premier David Eby and federal Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, posed for a picture in front of a section of the SkyTrain under construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Surrey Langley SkyTrain will transform the way people move around Metro Vancouver,\u201d said Robertson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough collaboration, we are building the first rapid transit project south of the Fraser in 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project is expected to be completed by 2029.<\/p>\n

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\nConstruction of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension progresses through Green Timbers Urban Forest, April 2026. | B.C. Ministry of Transportation <\/p>\n

\u200bFirms worked together to terminate\u00a0project manager, claims suit\u00a0<\/p>\n

While none of Salih\u2019s claims have been tested in court, the allegations suggest operational failures may have contributed to the SkyTrain project’s rising cost.<\/p>\n

Salih claims he worked for over a year and a half on the SkyTrain extension, until on Jan. 7, 2026, he was terminated \u201cwithout cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suit alleges Salih\u2019s termination \u201chad nothing to do with his performance.\u201d Instead, the principals of Con-Force allegedly laid off the project manager as a way to scapegoat him for third-party failures.<\/p>\n

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\nMap of the Surrey Langley SkyTrain Project route and stations. The project is expected to be completed over the next three years. | B.C. Ministry of Transportation <\/p>\n

\u200bSalih claims the other companies named as defendants intentionally interfered with his employment contract, pressuring Con-Force to remove him.<\/p>\n

He alleges the corporate group had mutual control over his employment and termination.<\/p>\n

The suit alleges Salih was wrongfully terminated after being promised long-term job security. It seeks repayment of portions of his $250,000 per year base salary and extra damages for bad faith, insensitive termination, and being inappropriately scapegoated.<\/p>\n

Through his lawyer, Salih declined to comment on the claims.<\/p>\n

None of the companies named in the suit responded to requests for comment. The Ministry of Transportation and Transit did not answer questions from\u00a0Business in Vancouver\u00a0by the time of publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n

None of the claims have been tested in court.<\/p>\n

BIV’s free newsletters cover daily business, real estate, B.C. politics and more. Sign up here<\/a> for B.C.\u2019s most important business news delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former project manager claims contractors wrongfully fired him to deflect blame from supply delays plaguing the $6B Surrey-Langley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-780129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}