Tartan Towing sues deputy mayor for defamation

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This article was published 22/11/2024 (339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg deputy mayor Janice Lukes is being sued for alleged defamatory comments she made about Tartan Towing and its contract with the city’s police department.

In a statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Wednesday, Tartan Towing, along with company owners Satnam “Sid” Brar and Rob Campbell, are suing Lukes, as well as Bison Towing and one of its directors, Zakria Shoaib, for unspecified general and special damages.

Tartan Towing said it is seeking damages for “defamation, injurious falsehood and intentional interference with economic relations,” which it says has resulted in loss of business and damage to the company.

Faron Trippier, a lawyer for Tartan, could not be reached for comment.

No statements of defence have been filed in court.

Lukes, a veteran councillor who chairs the civic public works committee and represents Waverley West, said she has received a copy of the lawsuit and wouldn’t comment about it at this time.

“But I will say, my job (and) my role here is to ensure taxpayers are receiving value for their tax dollars,” said Lukes on Thursday. “I am continuing to look into the multiple towing contracts that the city issues. I’m looking into the transparency, accountability and oversight.

“To be clear, I am not concerned about any one towing company. I am concerned about the city’s responsibilities when it comes to these very, very lucrative contracts.”

Lukes, who was first elected in the former South Winnipeg-St. Norbert ward in 2014, and has been re-elected twice, added she is also pleased the Winnipeg Police Service has launched an internal review of its towing contracts.

Shoaib of Bison Towing said he would not comment about the lawsuit, but still “stands my ground for what I said to make the contracts transparent and better.”

Mayor Scott Gillingham’s spokesman said he wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit.

The matter started in June when the city issued a tender for a contract to tow and store vehicles ticketed by officers for infractions such as impaired, unlicensed or suspended driving.

The contract can be worth millions of dollars because towing companies charge vehicle owners almost $500 each time a vehicle is stored for 30 days.

Tartan bid on the contract and was announced as the successful bidder on Aug. 2. The contract, which runs until June 30, 2025, includes up to four optional one-year extensions.

The contract approval was controversial because the city was suing Tartan for allegedly overcharging it $1.1 million. The city claims it had paid the company for tows that had either not been done or had been improperly recorded. Tartan responded by launching a countersuit against the city. Both cases remain in the court process.

At the time the contract was awarded, Lukes told the Free Press “I’m not comfortable with it at all… I question the actual awarding process.”

She later said the lack of detail made it tough to determine whether the city was getting all of its flat fee of $25 per police-related tow.

The WPS announced on Nov. 7 that it had launched an internal review of its towing contracts three months earlier and had found “a gap in our contract administration processes.” Police Supt. Brian Miln said there would be a “thorough examination of our procedures and whether or not towing recoveries (fees) were properly submitted to the WPS.”

Tartan claims in its lawsuit that on Nov. 4, both Lukes and Shoaib were interviewed on CJOB radio and made, what it claims, were defamatory statements against the company.

The lawsuit says one of the alleged defamatory statements by Lukes was: “If you think about it, a lot of things are paid in cash and that’s a lot of cash floating around. When cash floats around, there is interesting things that can happen.”

The statement of claim says Shoaib made alleged defamatory comments including: “Specific contract is given away just to favour some specific people in the market.”

The suit says the statements, both directly and by innuendo, were meant to mean “the plaintiffs bribed the City of Winnipeg to obtain the contract” and that Tartan is engaging in “improper actions” and “not reporting and/or withholding information.”

The company denies it has bribed or paid any official to get a contract, and it says it has fulfilled its contractual obligations.

The company claims the comments were made “to cause harm and damage” to it, as well as “to promote personal gain at the expense of the plaintiffs.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca