Ottawa man ordered to pay Saint John company $132K in legislature reno suit
A judge in Saint John has ordered Ottawa-based stonemason Bobby Watt to pay $132,000 to a Saint John subcontractor.
The decision concludes a nine-year dispute that followed the awarding of a contract to do restoration stonework on the New Brunswick Legislative Building.
It also reveals information about a secret $1,050,000 payment to Watt made by the province as part of a court settlement last October.
The legislature hired Watt's company, RJW Stonemasons, in May 2009 to do a $2.9 million refurbishment of the then nearly 130-year-old building.
- Lawsuit calls for release of legislature's secret settlement with stonemason
But in August of that year Watt was kicked off the project, along with a Saint John-based company associated with ICR General Contractors, after repeated clashes with D.M. Steeves, a consultant hired by the legislature to supervise the work.
ICR was a subcontractor working under Watt's company. It made an agreement with Watt to share the fruits of any later settlement with the province.
The company was not paid when an out-of-court agreement was finally reached with Watt last October.
And because the terms of the settlement were confidential, ICR could get no information on the amount he collected.
ICR had initially filed suit against Watt for money owed when the project soured. The company later dropped that suit in exchange for the deal to share proceeds of any future settlement Watt reached with the province.
Watt represented himself at Friday's hearing, telling Justice Willliam Grant his business had gone bankrupt.
"The Province of New Brunswick raped and pillaged my company," Watt said. He went on to say the court action by ICR amounted to "nothing better than urinating on a dead corpse."
Pursuing work on Parliament Hill
Under questioning from ICR lawyer David Shore, Watt admitted he has since started a new joint-venture company, RJW Gem Campbell Stonemasons, to pursue parts of a $1 billion project to restore the West Block on Parliament Hill.
The company succeeded in winning a subcontract to do stone restoration work on the building.
In his summation to Grant, Shore said the case was a simple one:
"The contract existed. It was not honoured [by Watt] once it was triggered for payment. And we claim damages on that basis."
"I have no hesitation in finding that there was an agreement," Grant said in issuing his order.
Amount based on agreement
Grant deemed $132,000 to be the amount owed ICR based on the agreement, which said any settlement between Watt and the province would trigger a payment of $45,000 to the company plus 13 percent of the remaining amount, excluding legal costs.
Watt quickly left the courthouse after the decision.
He claimed ICR had made more than it was entitled to years earlier in a payout from the bonding company that guaranteed the project.
He claimed the settlement he received from the province was taken by the bank holding a loan against his company.
"The whole process has stunk right from the word go," he said. "The province acted despicably. Now these guys have acted despicably. It's just ridiculous.
"I'll never do business in New Brunswick again."
