City, Caspian Construction square off in court over access to police HQ documents

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This article was published 15/06/2020 (2172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lawsuit over construction of the downtown police headquarters was back in court Monday with lawyers for the city fighting for access to documents seized in a now-closed RCMP investigation.

The city alleges Caspian Construction and 26 other business and individual defendants, including former Winnipeg CAO Phil Sheegl, conspired and schemed to inflate the cost of the beleaguered construction project for their own benefit.

A five-year RCMP investigation into the case wrapped up last December with no charges laid.

Caspian and other defendants are opposing the city’s motion for access to the documents, arguing many of them are protected by solicitor-client privilege.

“It is up to the city to show why they should be able to forge through and rifle through these solicitor-client privilege documents,” Caspian lawyer Jeff Baigre told Queen’s Bench Justice Glenn Joyal.

City of Winnipeg lawyer Michael Finlayson said it’s not enough to have “a lawyer’s name somewhere” to claim privilege, while at the same time giving the city no indication for which specific documents they claim privilege protection is to apply.

“It’s totally inappropriate to just throw a smokescreen in everyone’s face,” Finlayson said. “It’s ridiculous that they should hijack, stall or impede the motion that the city is making here.”

Baigre told Joyal disclosure of the appropriate documents can be made during the course of the regular discovery process.

“The city’s actions at this early stage is overwrought,” Baigre said. “We will disclose documents that are relevant in accordance with the rules.”

Finlayson countered that early disclosure is essential in the case, given the scope and complexity of the allegations.

“I’m going to need expert advice on which documents are material and how they are interrelated before I examine anyone on behalf of Caspian and any of the other defendants for discovery,” he said. “It is absolutely crucial that we get early discovery and production of the documents.”

Joyal reserved his decision.

The city budgeted $135 million to convert the former Canada Post office and mail-sorting plant into its new downtown headquarters. By the time the project was completed, the cost had soared to $214 million.

The lawsuit alleges the scheme to defraud the city, by filing fraudulent or inflated quotes, was concocted before the request for proposal for the project was even issued.

Other named defendants in the lawsuit include Caspian president Armik Babakhanians, office manager Pamela Anderson, Mountain Construction president Paul LaMontagne and Ottawa-based GRC Architects.

Last week, Joyal agreed to sever proceedings against Sheegl, after his lawyer argued the allegations involving Sheegl are separate from the allegations that form the substance of the city’s lawsuit.

The severance decision means that the case against Sheegl will be heard separately from the other 26 defendants.

Lawyer Robert Tapper argued any involvement Sheegl had with the project ended when he signed Caspian to the contract.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca