Trucks form blockade at Yukon government office

A Whitehorse contractor who is protesting changes to a government contract has parked his heavy equipment outside a government office building in protest.

Doug Gonder of Norcope Construction has parked about six or seven large dump trucks and earth-movers outside the Yukon government's main building in downtown Whitehorse since 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Gonder's company recently won a $15.9-million government contract to work on the city's new Whistlebend residential subdivision, but he said $2 millionworth of additional work was given to another contractor without any negotiation or bidding.

Gonder said the other contractor, Sidhu Trucking and Construction, had submitted a bid that was 50 per cent higher than his own bid for the initial contract.

"I mean, it's just unbelievable. I've been in [the] contract business for 35 years and never seen anything like this," Gonder told reporters on Wednesday.

"For them to bring a new contractor in and just give it to them on a silver platter is just unbelievable."

Government disagrees

So instead of moving earth, Norcope workersmoved their dump trucks and other equipmentto the government building's parking lot.

Gonder the government's actions violate all the general rules for contract bidding in the territory. Other contractors have agreed to join his blockade at the Yukon government building, he added.

"It's everybody's livelihood out here. I mean, any other contractor that gears up for a job and invests in a giant amount of capital expenditures, for them to pull it out and then just give it to another contractor could force financial bankruptcy," he said.

But Matt King, a spokesman for Yukon's Community Services Department, said Gonder has misinterpretedhis contract.

"Yukon government is being fair and reasonable with the contractor, and as the owner of the project, we're working to the terms and specifications that are outlined in the contract," King told CBC News.