Calgary mosque responds to allegations by EllisDon Construction Services

Lal Khan Malik, a representative of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada, responds to reports of a dispute between that organization and EllisDon Construction Services Inc. over final payment for the construction of Baitun Nur Mosque in Calgary.

Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

Recently, there has been some news in the media about a dispute with EllisDon Construction Services Inc. regarding final payment for the construction of Baitun Nur Mosque, Calgary.

To provide you with the accurate information, we provide you with the following update.

The matter commences back during the late summer when the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada (AMJC) was advised by their lawyers that, under the laws of Alberta, not to make any further payments to EllisDon, as the general contractor/construction manager, due to a builders’ lien placed by a sub-contractor whose work on the dome was sub-standard and had earlier been rejected by the supervising architect and also rejected by the general contractor.

According to Alberta Builders’ Lien Act, all payments for work on the project are stopped until a resolution to the disputed item is reached.

We are following the law as instructed by our legal team, but the situation is not worsening, rather the builders and their trades are trying to protect their position and have filed liens, even where there are clear problems with their work.

This has had the unfortunate effect of suggesting that unpaid bills are mounting, in a manner that was not planned. In fact, the funding to pay all amounts owing is on hand.

Upon further review of the accounts, AMJC has raised serious questions about billing from EllisDon and also about the back up invoicing from some of the sub-trades.

We have questioned whether an overall lack of supervision, proper care and due diligence by EllisDon was present.

These and other concerns have been brought to the attention of the general contractor/construction manager.

Also, there are serious deficiencies, such as the dome, and the mechanical air handling system still in need of correction, and that has caused delays in payments to those parties as we insist that all work should be proper, and all errors corrected, before payment.

While AMJC is trying to resolve these deficiencies for the best operation of the building, our finance and legal teams are working diligently to resolve other difficulties.

As soon as a resolution to each of the disputes is reached, we will pay any amounts justifiably due to the general contractor and for their payment on to the various trades.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada believes it has the right and responsibility to protect the interest of its members and to ensure that their donation dollars are spent properly and in a justifiable manner.

The Jama’at categorically rejects EllisDon’s allegation that its representative had ever tried to entice any sub-contractor to reduce invoices for the Mosque project, while charging EllisDon more on some other projects.

These allegations are baseless, false and will be defended in the court of law.

Lal Khan Malik
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada (AMJC)