A B.C. Supreme Court Justice wants a full-blown trial before deciding whether a Prince George logging company was wrongfully denied a licence to harvest timber on Crown land near Vanderhoof.
Both M.G. Logging and Sons Ltd. and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations applied for a judgment based solely on the written evidence submitted to the court, known as a summary trial.
But in a reasons for judgment issued Friday, Justice Robert Sewell concluded he is unable to resolve the matter based on the information he has been given and directed that a trial be held in which witnesses testify and be cross-examined.
The dispute is over a tender the ministry issued in June 2012. M.G. Logging owner Manuel Goncalves submitted what turned out to be the highest bid and in July 2012 the ministry posted a notice on its website stating the licence had been awarded to his company.
But the next day it was withdrawn because the ministry concluded the bid was made by a company not registered as a B.C. Timber Sales Enterprise. It turned out that while M.G. Logging and Sons is registered, Goncalves submitted the bid under another name, M.G. Logging Enterprise Ltd.
Goncalves also failed to include an incorporation number in the space provided but did write in Sons' and the registration number in the space provided for that purpose.
Goncalves argues he submitted the bid under Enterprise by mistake and the Ministry understood Sons was the applicant. He further argued the Ministry had stated on its website that the contract was awarded to Sons and subsequently could not revoke the award.
Conversely, the Ministry contends Enterprise was the applicant and was not eligible, the posting did not constitute awarding of the licence and there was no contract between the parties.
Sewell concluded a formal letter from the mInistry was not required before the bid had been deemed awarded but said the ministry should have the opportunity to cross examine Goncalves' claim he intended to make the bid under Sons.
Likewise, Sewell said the written evidence provided by MInistry's acting timber sales manager at the time, Bill Dobbs, about the circumstances surrounding the tender was "somewhat inconsistent" but concluded he should be given the chance to testify before making a final decision on that aspect.
