The province spent at least $2 million removing a toppled crane from downtown Halifax earlier this month but has yet to say exactly how it plans to recover those costs.
Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines disclosed the dollar figure to reporters Thursday, almost three months after the crane collapsed during post-tropical storm Dorian. The province has come under heavy criticism for its decision to take on the cost of the cleanup without assurance of being reimbursed.
Hines said the province is in the process of determining who’s responsible for paying the bill. He didn’t rule out legal action to recover the money.
“We will determine where that liability lies and pursue that liability," said Hines. “Reasonable people make reasonable judgments, and that's where we would start."
Hines defended the province’s decision to take on sole financial responsibility of the cleanup, saying his department needed to act quickly because the site presented a serious public safety.
“We had no other option but to do it. . . . We got it done.”
The final pieces of the crane were removed from the Olympus building on South Park Street late last month and the state of emergency was lifted.
The ordeal forced the evacuation of several apartment units and businesses in the area.
Olympus building developer Wadih Fares and crane owner Lead Structural Formwork Ltd. have already been hit with a class-action suit. Wagners Law Firm filed the suit last month, representing residents and businesses displaced by the collapse.
Halifax Regional Municipality is still in the process calculating the cost of damage to infrastructure, said spokesman Brendan Elliott.
Sections of South Park Street and the sidewalk bordering the development needed to be replaced and repaved as a result of the collapse.
"Our legal department is looking to see if there’s an opportunity to recoup those costs if any," said Elliott. "We have been in close contact with the developer and the province. They’re having those discussions as we speak."
The province paid Halifax Fire $100,000 to assist in the evacuation order and oversee the removal of the crane. That money is included in the province’s $2-million tab, said Elliott.
Tory MLA Tim Halman said the province needs to offer a plan showing taxpayers won’t be paying the bill.
"There has to be some transparency around this whole issue and certainly we havent seen that," said Halman. "The government needs to find a way to recover these costs."
RELATED
- Piece by piece, crane felled by hurricane Dorian is being removed
- Two companies hired to remove collapsed Halifax crane
- Minister: Compensation being explored in downtown crane collapse
- Halifax Fire chief issues evacuation order for properties near collapsed construction crane
- Developer not sure why crane collapsed during hurricane Dorian
