SNC-Lavalin files $330M suit against Montreal superhospital

MONTREAL— An SNC-Lavalin consortium says it has filed a $330-million lawsuit against a Montreal superhospital that’s at the centre of bribery allegations that include a former CEO of the engineering and construction firm.

McGill Healthcare Infrastructure Group (MHIG), which includes SNC and Innisfree Ltd., says it’s seeking compensation for additional costs incurred during the design and construction of the $1.34-billion hospital, which opened last year.

The lawsuit also includes present and future costs related to managing and maintaining the hospital complex through September 2044.

Also named in the lawsuit is the Quebec government, which contracted the project under a publicprivate partnership arrangement in which MHIG financed, designed, built and maintains the hospital.

The SNC-Lavalin group said it launched the lawsuit after two years of unsuccessful negotiations.

It said an agreement with the McGill University Health Centre entitles it to compensation to cover additional work requested.

The consortium said the hospital made many changes to expand the project, failed to provide timely information and misused a review process.

Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette has rejected the lawsuit filed Friday by an SNC-Lavalin consortium.

“We will not pay one penny above what is justified,” Barrette said in an interview.

The minister said the government is willing to pay more for unexpected expenses that are part of any large project, but nowhere near the amount being sought by MHIG.