Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart and the city’s top bureaucrat have found themselves at the centre of the newest chapter of a multi-million dollar legal battle between Metro Vancouver and an international construction company. 

Metro Vancouver has filed a notice of application in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Acciona — a company it fired from the building of a $500 million wastewater treatment plant. 

In the filing, it demands Acciona provide more information about how it came into possession of the regional government’s confidential legal advice outlining the case for terminating the contract before it informed Acciona about the termination.

In the application, Metro Vancouver alleges Acciona received the information from Anika Calder, the daughter of Coquitlam city manager Peter Steblin, who was working for Acciona at the time of the project’s termination.

The legal filing claims Steblin accessed the confidential information using Stewart’s password, and Calder proceeded to take photographs of the Metro Vancouver report on her phone and then gave the photos to multiple Acciona employees. 

None of the allegations have been proven in court, where Acciona and Metro Vancouver have been engaged in a legal battle for several months, and Acciona has not yet filed a response. 

The City of Coquitlam said it would not be commenting on the situation as it is before the courts, though it said Steblin had announced his intention to retire in the new year. 

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