City of Winnipeg overpaid $43M for downtown police headquarters: inquiry report
The report cites misconduct, inflated claims and procurement failures, and recommends 25 changes to prevent similar overruns on major city projects.
- On Monday, inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang released his final report concluding the city overpaid approximately $43 million for the Winnipeg police headquarters project due to misconduct by former Mayor Sam Katz and former CAO Phil Sheegl.
- Smorang found Caspian Construction owner Armik Babakhanians engaged in "unethical conduct" by submitting "fictional" invoices to inflate costs, while Sheegl and Katz accepted a $327,200 bribe ensuring Caspian secured the contract.
- The $209-million project finished two years late and $74 million over budget, prompting Smorang to issue 25 recommendations to improve procurement policies and city council oversight of major projects.
- Prosecutors are reviewing new evidence from the inquiry to determine whether criminal charges should be laid, a process that began in July after previous attempts to pursue charges failed.
- Smorang advised the province to change legislation allowing public inquiries to compel testimony from witnesses living outside Manitoba, following the city's recovery of a $28-million settlement from Caspian earlier this year.
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5 Articles
Report finds construction company got $42M in excess claims on Winnipeg police HQ
The commissioner of a public inquiry into the development of Winnipeg's police headquarters has found that the city was overcharged and overpaid tens of millions to the lead construction company. Garth Smorang wrote in his final report he is satisfied the evidence presented during the inquiry, which began earlier this year, suggests Caspian Construction received approximately $42 million for excess claims, while another $1.3 million was paid to…
Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz violated public trust, ex-CAO lacked moral compass, police HQ inquiry says
Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz “violated the public trust” and former city chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl displayed “a complete lack of a moral compass” by engaging in "blatant" conflicts of interest involving the owner of the construction company awarded the contract to build the city’s police headquarters, the provincial public inquiry into the scandal-plagued project concluded.
Contractor overcharged city more than $40M during police HQ construction, inquiry commissioner concludes in final report
The final public inquiry report into construction of Winnipeg Police Service headquarters concludes there was misconduct and inflated costs and calls on the city to make changes to prevent the project’s shortcomings from being repeated.
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