The builder of Hamilton's Pan Am stadium is rejecting allegations of unsafe cost-cutting even as a local MPP raises the issue in the provincial legislature.

Clairmont Electric claimed last week it was told during contract bidding to cut costs by allowing general labourers to do some electrical installation and banning unionized subcontractors.

Emails from a stadium project manager refer to Ontario Sports Solutions (ONSS) personnel placing light fixtures, hanging transformers and installing conduit, rather than Clairmont electricians. The Ontario College of Trades told The Spectator those jobs must be done by certified electricians.

Samuel Gandossi, the ONSS project director for the stadium, told The Spectator Monday electrical work is now under way and all of the referenced work "is being conducted by trades, and only by trades."

Gandossi said the work is being inspected by the Electrical Safety Authority and he invited the college, a provincial regulator, "to visit our site at any time."

NDP Hamilton MPP Paul Miller stood in the legislature Tuesday to bring up Clairmont's safety concerns, noting the allegations come as the public learns about hefty bonuses promised to Pan Am executives.

But Gandossi said Clairmont was awarded the high-voltage electrical contract and continues to work on the site. The low-voltage contract, which Clairmont bid on, was ultimately awarded to Hamilton's Fairway Electric.

The Spectator couldn't reach a Clairmont representative Tuesday.

Gandossi suggested some email information provided about the tendering process was "largely taken out of context and is misleading."

But Gandossi did not respond Monday or Tuesday to The Spectator's request for specific comment on two emails from stadium electrical project manager Andrew Smerek.

The first listed a request of Clairmont to allow ONSS personnel to place light fixtures and rig and hang transformers. The second stated ONSS management "cannot accept tradesmen moving materials, equipment and doing work they consider labourers work."

Councillor Lloyd Ferguson, who sits on the city's Pan Am subcommittee, said Tuesday he understood stadium construction to be about two weeks behind schedule but added workers are catching up via six-day work weeks. He didn't think the delay had anything to do with the electrical contract issue, which he saw as a labour dispute.

"They're not doing anything wrong that I can see," he said.