Canadian Lawyer - sample

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m M A Y 2 0 1 9 21 R E A L E S T A T E the project is completed to be put in front of someone, probably from someone in industry, just to make some sort of a deci- sion," he says. "There are still quite a few disputes in construc- tion projects that wind their way through the courts, but there's really no need for them to go that way. In a lot of cases, parties simply need someone to make a decision." An adjudication regime hasn't yet been completely defined or assigned in Saskatchewan. Perhaps, he says, that might come out of the federal initiative. New Brunswick is another province considering prompt payment legislation. Its law reform notes from May 2018 included the question of whether the province's lien act needs to be modernized and then whether prompt payment needs to be addressed. The challenge is whether any initiative will gain traction given the minority government, which has already been replaced through a nonconfidence vote since October's election. "I'm not sure what the answer is on prompt payment and adjudication," says Conor O'Neil, a construction lawyer at Stewart McKelvey LLP, who works in Saint John. Despite that, he says it is inevitable, given the need to update the province's lien legislation. And there had been some discussion about adopting the same framework as Ontario. "If you look at the lien acts across the country just in terms of enactment dates, I think New Brunswick is the oldest one." He points to the inclusion of dowry in the Mechanics Lien Act of New Brunswick and reference to registering a lien by updating a book that essentially no longer exists as indica- tions for the need for an update to keep up with the current practices of the industry. That claims can really choke the cashflow of a project and slow things down is an indication, he says, that you can't have prompt payment without adjudication. "The problem in New Brunswick is a logistical one" given its small bar, which is bifurcated by English and French practi- tioners, he says. "If I need to engage a third-party adjudicator in a construction dispute my options are few and far between. "It's a real problem that might be able to be dealt with in the fullness of time" if the federal government creates a feder- al nominating authority, he says. "There are still quite a few disputes in construction projects that wind their way through the courts, but there's really no need for them to go that way. In a lot of cases, parties simply need someone to make a decision." Jared Epp, Robertson Stromberg LLP HodgsonRuss_CL_May_19.indd 1 2019-04-26 10:45 AM

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