St. Mary's Polish Church faces lawsuit after devastating fire

Members of the razed St. Mary's Polish Church in Cape Breton are facing a new setback — the roofing company they blame for a devastating fire seven months ago is suing the church for more than $42,000.

"We were surprised and disappointed," said Tom Urbaniak, chair of the St. Mary's parish council.

He says on the day of the fire, workers from Linear Roofing Ltd. apologized to the parishioners and some even teared up as the church burned.

"We didn't hear from the roofing company subsequent to the fire until there was a formal, terse letter from the lawyer for the roofing company stating that there would be a lawsuit against the parish for the final instalment for the roofing contact — a roofing contract that, of course, was not completed," said Urbaniak.

The parish maintains Linear Roofing is to blame for the fire. The fire marshal said it was likely accidental.

Linear Roofing has not responded to CBC's requests for an interview. A statement of claim states the company's work was completed prior to the fire and workers did not cause it.

Church says work not done

Urbaniak disputes the job was completed.

"The roofing work was still taking place the day of the fire," he said. "Furthermore, there's very strong evidence to suggest … that it was the negligence of the roofing company that lead directly to the fire which destroyed the church."

Urbaniak did not elaborate on the nature of the evidence.

The roofing workers came to the scene the day after the church was destroyed and were upset, Urbaniak said.

"The roofing workers were absolutely devastated and sorry and horrified by the fire was taking place and we felt generally bad for them," he said.

"We made a statement publicly expressing our friendship and solidarity with roofing workers and absolutely feeling no ill will against them."

The roofing company is looking to be paid for the work plus interest.

"It's an awkward situation for sure," said Urbaniak.

The church has hired lawyer Gary Corsano and will file a statement of defence.

Fundraising underway

"With and through the Diocese of Antigonish, the parish has engaged legal counsel who will be entrancing a full answer in defence to the allegations set out in the statement of claim and will also be advancing the position of the church on the events surrounding the fire," Urbaniak said.

Urbaniak says the church's insurance company plans to file a counterclaim for "negligence directly resulting in the loss of the church."

The parish is trying to raise money to rebuild the 102-year-old church.

Urbaniak says thanks to their insurance, the legal fees shouldn't eat into their fundraising.

"Our church has been through so much adversity it just seems that each new adversity makes us a little bit stronger," he said.