A Maze in Corn wins court battle against our province

An outdoor tourist attraction at St. Adolphe has won a court battle against our province. 

Clint Masse, owner of A Maze in Corn says nearly five years after the province decided to unnecessarily flood them out, the Court of King's Bench has ruled in their favour. 

Masse explains it was back in October of 2019 when southeastern Manitoba was hit by heavy rains. He notes it eventually reached a point where the province began to consider activating the Red River Floodway in order to save basements in Winnipeg. But Masse says each time he inquired, he was told that no, there was no plan to activate the floodway. 

Masse says at some point the decision makers must have changed their minds because, without warning, the floodway went into operation, leaving Masse and others scrambling to save what they could from flood waters. 

"They basically flooded out the haunted forest," says Masse. "And the haunted forest is certainly the anchor that brings everyone that's interested in using the maze to celebrate Halloween, it just kind of derailed our business in a big way."

According to Masse, A Maze in Corn generates 80 per cent of its annual revenue in the month of October. When the haunted forest was covered by flood waters back in the fall of 2019, Masse says the pain and shock to their system was "horrific."

Operating a tourist attraction along the Red River, Masse is well aware of the laws that exist in our province for when the floodway can go into operation. 

"I was actually saddened that our province would activate the gates when they didn't need to," says Masse, noting there have been spring floods in recent memory that had higher levels yet did not see the floodway go into operation. "Number two, they didn't follow the laws on compensation, they interpreted them quite one-sided."

For example, Masse says the law states that if activation of the floodway is responsible for flooding somebody out, then an accredited insurance adjuster must be used to identify business loss. Masse says the province acknowledged flooding out A Maze in Corn, yet discredited the amount of financial loss that was provided by the adjuster.

"They just said, 'No it just can't be that much, we'll give you 40 per cent of that number,'" he recalls. 

Masse says it was at that point that he knew that things were going sideways, and that the province was certainly not looking after their best interests. Masse says laws in Manitoba clearly state that if the province stores water on your property, 100 per cent of the loss is compensable.

Masse says he believes that part of the reason why the province was playing hardball was because their estimates were so far off with how much they would need to compensate landowners. He notes the province allegedly had committed only $300,000 to its flood compensation program, which was intended to cover all landowners eligible for compensation. And though Masse will not say exactly how much A Maze in Corn lost in revenue that fall, he says it for sure exceeded $300,000. 

"I think they called it so wrong, whoever was in charge, I think they couldn't back up the trolley and they couldn't of course pay me what they owed me," says Masse. "They couldn't settle with me properly in good order, following the rules. The reason I don't think they could follow the rules is because I took their whole budget."

Masse eventually took the province to court. And, after nearly five years of pushing, and what he calls "monstrous court costs," he notes they won their case. However, there is still more work to be done. Masse says though the Court of King's Bench has ruled in their favour, his team and the province must still negotiate the terms of compensation. 

He notes they have been awarded their legal fees and also the interest from damage caused in 2019. And though he is confident that they will also get the rest of what is owning them in lost revenue, Masse fears it might require a trip back to the Court of King's Bench to retrieve every lost dollar. 

"We're willing to do that if that's what it takes," he says.

Masse says there is certainly some relief to know they won their case. He notes this was made possible thanks to the assistance of the Smith Neufeld Jodoin law firm. But Masse admits he was shocked to know that the province would operate outside the law. And he is just hopeful that the province will quickly pay up what it owes their business, without dragging this out any longer.