Splash Dash Boat Tours sues The Forks subsidiary over alleged unpaid invoice

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This article was published 08/10/2024 (384 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A longtime Winnipeg tour boat company is suing The Forks Renewal Corp. for breach of contract.

The statement of claim, filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Sept. 27 by lawyers Markus Buchart and Luke Young of Jerch Law on behalf of Splash Dash Boat Tours, accuses it of failing to pay $31,500 it owes the company for operating a water bus service in the 2020 season.

It has not yet filed a statement of defence. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The lawsuit alleges The Forks governance entity entered into an agreement with Splash Dash to operate a boat tour business and water bus service at the downtown location for four operating seasons (May 1 to Oct. 9 annually during a four-year term from April 1, 2019, to Oct. 9, 2023).

The agreement stipulated, upon presentation of Splash Dash’s invoice, The Forks would pay the company $30,000, plus GST, by April 15 before the beginning of each operating season to help cover the water bus service’s annual startup expenses, the claim says.

The lawsuit alleges at the end of March 2020, Splash Dash delivered its invoice for the coming season. The invoice was for the base amount of $30,000, plus GST at the applicable rate of five per cent, amounting to $1,500, for a total amount owing of $31,500.

“The defendant has not paid the invoice, or any part of it, to Splash Dash,” reads the court filing.

“Despite demands from Splash Dash, the defendant continues to neglect and/or refuse to pay any of the invoice.”

The lawsuit says the agreement created a binding and enforceable contract, and failure to pay the invoice constitutes a breach of contract.

In addition to the full amount of the invoice, Splash Dash is seeking pre-judgment interest on the $31,500 at the rate of 0.5 per cent calculated from April 15, 2020, until the date of judgment. The company is also seeking costs, post-judgment interest and “such other relief as the plaintiff may request.”

Splash Dash owner Gord Cartwright declined to comment as the matter is now before the courts.

The North Portage Development Corp. (owned equally by the federal, provincial and Winnipeg civic governments) was created in December 1983, seeking the redevelopment of the city’s North Portage area. The Forks Renewal Corp., incorporated July 1987, is a wholly owned subsidiary. The operations of the two entities were merged in 1994 to form The Forks North Portage Partnership.

Cartwright and a partner started Splash Dash with three boats in 1992, after they won a tender issued by The Forks leadership.

The business eventually grew to include nine boats and roughly 30 staff, ferrying up to 80,000 passengers through the Red and Assiniboine rivers annually for tours and taxi trips.

Seeking to retire, Cartwright announced in June 2023 he was selling the company.

Entrepreneurs Will Belford and Griffin Hewitt entered into negotiations with Cartwright, but ultimately chose to start their own venture. After inking a deal with The Forks leadership, Belford and Hewitt launched Winnipeg Waterways in May.

In April 2024, Cartwright alleged The Forks governing body “crippled” his business in early 2023, when he was told to move its on-site office and storage area, and again when it removed the security gate near its boats. Splash Dash didn’t run its water bus in the 2023 operating season, due to inadequate infrastructure and protection, Cartwright said at the time.

As of June 2024, Splash Dash’s homebase is 1700 Pembina Hwy.

The business is no longer listed as for sale.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca