People of a certain vintage will remember the hoary cliché of being “left in the lurch”. The Yukon Housing Corp. and a Dawson City trucking firm certainly know how it feels.
Last week, the Yukon government proudly announced the opening of a new $1.5-million affordable housing duplex involving the housing corporation.
What was missing from the announcement was a bit of a colourful background story that cast a shadow over the positive element of the project.
The original contractor, Grey Customs, whose work was valued at just less than $1 million, is a new firm. As per usual, it hired subcontractors to help out with the work.
One of those subcontractors is Gammie Trucking, which signed a contract for $72,000 for excavation services on the site.
The Yukon Star has spoken to company owner Silvie Gammie, who had an interesting tale to spin.
Gammie claims that Grey Customs put a stop-payment order on the post-dated cheques for the work her company had performed.
At around the same time, she says, the company owner left Canada – and Grey Custom and its work on the duplex was abandoned. This was the fall of 2022.
After several missed cheques, Gammie said, she approached the Yukon government about the situation.
Unfortunately, she and her company had missed their chance to have the government look into it further – by nine days. That was because she and her family had gone on a vacation and had forgotten the deadline.
The government refused to offer any assistance after that – and the firm remains out-of-pocket for the excavation work.
“We were left hanging,” Gammie told the Star. She has heard the contractor has fled to the Cayman Islands.
Philippe Mollet, the housing corporation’s acting vice-president of operations, confirmed most of those details to the Star during an interview this week.
He sounded frustrated with the situation, which caused the cost of the duplex project to balloon significantly. The final tally of the cost overrun of finding a new contractor came to $291,758.
He said he was aware of the problems between the contractor and subcontractors – not just Gammie – were having, but said it was “completely outside our control (the Yukon government)”.
“The situation impacted us as well,” Mollet said, referring to the cost overruns.
He confirmed that the owner of Grey is not in Canada, so far as he’s aware.
The government is now considering legal action against the company, Mollet said. As such, he couldn’t offer any further comments.
The duplex, located at 925 Seventh Ave. in downtown Dawson, replaces the original single-family home structure destroyed by a fire.
The new structure is comprised of a 1,108-square-foot two-bedroom unit on the main level and a 785-square-foot one-bedroom unit on the upper level. Both units exceed energy efficiency ratings by 35 per cent of National Energy Building Code requirements.
Each unit is equipped with an ensuite laundry, electric baseboards and a heat recovery ventilator.
The YHC will own and operate the units as part of the rent-geared-to-Income program, which assists Yukoners in need of affordable and suitable housing.
Funding for the project was provided through the YHC’s five-year capital plan.
“This new duplex will help alleviate the pressures on affordable housing options available in Dawson,” the government said.
Units will be assigned to those on the corporation’s waitlist, enabling tenants to create a sense of home in their community.
This approach is in line with the corporation’s new five-year strategic plan called Creating Home, which aims to support the creation of healthy homes and communities to better Yukoners’ lives.
“Building houses and creating homes are central to growing vibrant communities where Yukoners can thrive,” said Premier Ranj Pillai, who today is in Moosehide, downriver from Dawson.
“This new energy-efficient duplex will enable Yukoners to remain in Dawson and continue contributing to their community. ”
The YHC has more than 720 social housing units in 10 communities where tenants pay 25 per cent of their gross income for rent (rent geared to income).
