A subcontractor who worked to turn Yellowknife’s old Stanton Territorial Hospital into a primary and long-term care facility says it still hasn’t been paid for work it did there nearly a year ago.

SMI Construction, an Alberta-based company, will be in court Jan. 11 for a hearing on whether a lien it filed on the project is valid. A lien is basically a claim against a property, often filed so a contractor can recoup money.

Mick Stack, SMI’s owner, says his company is still owed roughly $3.4 million by CANA Construction, the main contractor on the project. SMI filed the lien against CANA, the territorial government and other parties in May after being taken off the project it had worked on for 15 months.

SMI is also asking for $2 million in punitive damages. 

In court documents, CANA is disputing the validity of the lien and claims SMI breached its contract. It says it doesn’t owe SMI any money because SMI did shoddy work, fell behind schedule and that CANA was left to fix the mistakes.

CANA did not respond to interview requests, but the documents show it’s arguing the lien was filed against the wrong party and should be annulled.

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