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The final report from the inquiry into Winnipeg’s police headquarters project will be made public Monday at 1 p.m.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement at an unrelated news conference in Thompson on Friday.
The inquiry examined the procurement and construction of Winnipeg’s police headquarters and also examined changes to the way the city oversees major projects.
The project began in 2008, when the Winnipeg Police Service began exploring the idea of moving its headquarters from the since-demolished Public Safety Building on Princess Street to a former Canada Post office tower and warehouse complex downtown, south of Graham Avenue.
The ensuing $214-million purchase and renovation project was completed two years late in 2016, ended up $79 million over budget and was the subject of two external audits as well as a five-year RCMP investigation into fraud, forgeries and secret commissions, which concluded without charges in 2019.
The City of Winnipeg launched a pair of lawsuits over the project. The first ended in 2022, when a Court of King’s Bench judge determined former city chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl accepted a $327,200 bribe from Caspian Construction owner Armik Babakhanians in exchange for favour in the tendering process.
An Appeal Court judge concluded the next year that although former mayor Sam Katz is not accused of any wrongdoing, he could be considered a material witness because he “received precisely half the money.”
Caspian and other defendants settled a separate lawsuit for $28 million in 2023.
Inquiry held four months of hearings
A total of 30 witnesses testified at the inquiry during 27½ days of public hearings held over four months.
During the public hearings, Sheegl contested the Court of King’s Bench conclusion he accepted a bribe from Babakhanians, and the contractor denied he offered one.
Former Caspian director Shaun Babakhanians, the son of Armik Babakhanians, testified his father told him Katz and Sheegl wanted $4 million from him. A lawyer for Sheegl questioned the son’s recollection of this conversation.
Katz testified he did not accept any bribes and expressed offence to any suggestion he did.
Garth Smorang, the inquiry’s commissioner, said in May a lot of evidence came forward that was in the public interest.
“Now my job, along with commission council [Heather Leonoff], will be to put all that into a written report that will not only be thorough and will tell a story, but also will be useful in terms of actual practical recommendations that could be acted upon,” he said.
Smorang submitted his report more than two months before the deadline set by the province.