Former contractor for air ambulance in Peace River denied court injunction request
By Gillian Slade on April 25, 2018.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com @MHNGillianSlade A request for a court injunction to stop a new air ambulance contractor taking over in Peace River has been denied. Northern Air Charter, which used to have the air ambulance contract to operate in Peace River, asked for the injunction after Alberta Health Services awarded a request for proposals to CanWest Air for that region. CanWest is also the contractor for the fixed-wing air ambulance in Medicine Hat. In denying the request for the injunction, Justice Tilleman stated there is the appearance it was made extremely difficult for CanWest to obtain space from which to operate at the airport in Peace River. “CanWest made much of the mayor’s activities in supporting Northern Air and opposing the decision made by Alberta Health Services. The town’s apparent co-operation in facilitating NAC tying up all the vacant space at the Peace River Airport is suspicious,” the court document states. Tying up vacant hangar space “may constitute an interference with the contractual relations between AHS and CanWest”, the document states. Tilleman says it also brings in to question whether Northern Air requested the application “with clean hands.” While Northern Air asserted it would cause irreparable harm if the injunction was not granted, it is no more than could have been expected at the end of the AHS contract, knowing there was no guarantee Northern Air would get a new contract. While Northern Air will suffer financial loss, no longer having the contract, so too would CanWest if the injunction was granted. CanWest has also incurred significant expense in preparing to commence operations in Peace River as the new contractor effective April 1, the document says. The News requested comment from CanWest and NAC. There was no response by deadline. 11
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