Former Winnipeg mayor Katz one of first witnesses at police HQ inquiry

The long-promised public inquiry into the construction of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters will hear from one of the most highly anticipated witnesses at the start — former mayor Sam Katz.

Katz, who was mayor when the beleaguered project began, is scheduled to begin speaking on Thursday, possibly continuing into Friday, said Heather Leonoff, the legal counsel for the provincial inquiry that begins Tuesday.

Since Katz was mayor from 2004 to 2014, there is ample public interest as to how he will answer questions about the project, said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

“The inquiry itself is coming after an RCMP investigation, a decision not to prosecute criminally, a civil suit against the former (chief administrative officer), audits and all the rest of it. So, a lot of the story has been told but what might be missing from the story is where was Sam Katz in the middle of all of this?” said Thomas.

Concerns surrounding the police headquarters project at 245 Smith St. have plagued city council for years. The city bought the former Canada Post building at Smith Street and Graham Avenue in 2009 to replace the former WPS headquarters in the Public Safety Building on Princess Street, which has since been demolished.

The building opened in June 2016 at a cost of about $214 million, well above its original $135-million price tag, and an external audit found the project was severely mismanaged.

The RCMP conducted a lengthy investigation into fraud and forgery allegations related to the project, but no criminal charges were laid.

“Rather than rehashing old information that the public already knows, I’m hoping that some answers to questions that the public has are provided.”

A court ruled in 2022 that Phil Sheegl, who was the city’s CAO at the time, had accepted a bribe from Caspian Construction, a key contractor on the project, and ordered him to pay the city compensation. Last month, the city revealed it had received a $1.15-million payment from Sheegl.

The city has received $500,000 from a settlement of fraud and construction-deficiency lawsuits it launched over the HQ project, with city officials noting millions more are still expected to be paid.

A settlement approved in March 2023 called for the city to receive $23.5 million if paid within 36 months. If the payment is not made within 36 months, the city will ask the Court of King’s Bench to order that it be paid $28 million. That deadline will be reached on March 24.

Katz’s appearance as an early witness is likely to trigger “high public interest” but may also lead to “exaggerated expectations” about what the inquiry will reveal, said Thomas.

The inquiry aims to answer as many questions about the construction project as possible but witness testimony will not be considered evidence that can be used in future criminal or civil cases, said Leonoff.

“The purpose of an inquiry is to get to the bottom of things but people are not at risk of criminal or civil liability,” she said.

Leonoff said Sheegl is expected to appear as a witness on Feb. 17.

She noted the scope of the inquiry has been set by the province.

“(That) has given us a mandate to investigate the building of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters, and what went on during that building, and to make recommendations for how any problems that we uncover can be prevented in the future … It is not an inquiry at large… about anything and everything that people may be concerned about,” said Leonoff.

With past third-party reviews and two city legal challenges already concluded, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he hopes the inquiry will focus on uncovering new details about the project.

“Rather than rehashing old information that the public already knows, I’m hoping that some answers to questions that the public has are provided,” said Gillingham.

While the inquiry aims to provide recommendations to prevent such a project from being repeated, the mayor said the city has implemented changes to procurement, real estate transactions and project management.

“The City of Winnipeg operates differently today than we did 10 or 12 years ago… We put several checks and balances in place, and new rules in place, to prevent this from happening again,” said Gillingham.

“The City of Winnipeg operates differently today than we did 10 or 12 years ago.”

Coun. Evan Duncan, chairman of property and development, said he hopes the headquarters’ multimillion-dollar cost hike is fully explained as the inquiry unfolds.

“That has enraged Winnipeggers to the point where the provincial government is responding with a commitment of $2 million for this inquiry… I would argue that this is of public interest, that it is a good investment. It’s just unfortunate that this is what we have to spend our money on when there are so many other areas of need,” said Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood).

A spokesman for Premier Wab Kinew said he was not available to comment on the inquiry Monday.

The inquiry is expected to wrap up in mid-June.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

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