Tantramar Sanitation & Trucking Ltd. v. Sackville (Town), 2006 NBQB 13

• Judge: Landry, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick (Canada)
• Case Date: January 16, 2006
• Jurisdiction: New Brunswick
• Citations: 2006 NBQB 13;(2006), 298 N.B.R.(2d) 365 (TD)

Tantramar Sanitation v. Sackville (2006), 298 N.B.R.(2d) 365 (TD);

    298 R.N.-B.(2e) 365; 775 A.P.R. 365

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[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

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Temp. Cite: [2006] N.B.R.(2d) TBEd. JA.033

Tantramar Sanitation & Trucking Ltd., a body corporate (plaintiff) v. The Town of Sackville (defendant)

(M/C/0034/04; 2006 NBQB 13)

Indexed As: Tantramar Sanitation & Trucking Ltd. v. Sackville (Town)

New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench

Trial Division

Judicial District of Moncton

Landry, J.

January 16, 2006.

Summary:

An unsuccessful bidder on a town's con­tract for garbage collection sued the town for damages, claiming breach of Contract A, the invitation to tender, and unfairness in over­looking the successful bidder's noncompli­ance with the terms of the contract.

The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, dismissed the action. Damages were provisionally assessed at $55,000.

Contracts - Topic 1263

Formation of contract - Tender calls - Duties - The Town of Sackville called for tenders for garbage collection - The con­tract required the successful contractor to operate a solid waste transfer station in the town - Tantramar, the incumbent, and PBS were the only bidders - Tantramar already had a transfer station in operation - PBS did not - PBS's bid was $480,000 lower than Tantramar's - Sackville awarded the contract to PBS - PBS's transfer station became operational nine months after the contract began - Tantramar sued Sackville, claiming breach of the implied term of bargaining equally in the tender process and unfairness in overlooking PBS's non­compliance - The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, dismissed the action - The transfer station was only a convenience and not a requirement that went to the essence of the contract - Sack­ville had a duty of fairness to Tantramar but was also bound to act fairly to ratepay­ers - The whole purpose of tendering was to obtain competitive prices - Sackville was not forever locked in with Tantramar simply because it already had a transfer station.

Municipal Law - Topic 1518.1

Powers of municipalities - Particular pow­ers - Respecting tenders - [See Contracts - Topic 1263 ].

Municipal Law - Topic 2445

Contracts by a municipality - Contracts to provide services - Garbage collection - [See Contracts - Topic 1263 ].

Cases Noticed:

Ron Engineering & Construction (Eastern) Ltd. v. Ontario and Water Resources Commission, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 111; 35 N.R. 40, refd to. [para. 7].

Graham Industrial Services Ltd. v. Greater Vancouver Water District et al. (2004), 194 B.C.A.C. 1; 317 W.A.C. 1 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 23].

Counsel:

Dale T. Briggs, for the plaintiff;

Robert M. Dysart, for the defendant.

This action was heard at Moncton, New Brunswick, on December 19 and 20, 2005, by Landry, J., of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, Judicial District of Monc­ton, who delivered the following decision on January 16, 2006.