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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.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement at an unrelated news conference in Thompson on Friday.<\/p>\n
The inquiry examined the procurement and construction of Winnipeg’s police headquarters and also examined changes to the way the city oversees major projects.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> into fraud, forgeries and secret commissions, which concluded without charges in 2019.<\/p>\n The City of Winnipeg launched a pair of lawsuits<\/a>\u00a0over the project. The first ended in 2022, when a Court of King’s Bench judge determined former city chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl\u00a0accepted a $327,200 bribe<\/a>\u00a0from Caspian Construction owner Armik Babakhanians in exchange for favour in the tendering process.<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n