Police HQ inquiry trims schedule to remain on budget

The public inquiry probing the over-budget Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project will wrap up sooner than scheduled so that it doesn’t go over budget.

The $2.3-million inquiry was scheduled to include 48 public hearing dates between Feb. 10 and mid-June. That count eventually dropped to 27.5 days, when half-day sessions are factored in, commissioner Garth Smorang told reporters Wednesday.

He said staying within budget was the “overriding” reason for the change, with the final part-day session scheduled for Friday afternoon.

“We’ve tried globally to try and reduce (the dates) and be respectful of taxpayer dollars as best we can,” said Smorang.

He noted four of the original 48 hearing dates were slated for overflow time, to only be used if needed.

Smorang said the shortened timeline meant the inquiry heard from four fewer witnesses and one less expert than expected but he’s confident the condensed schedule won’t prevent it from achieving its key goals.

“The first piece is shining light on a lot of the facts that didn’t come out because the civil litigation was settled … So, we brought forward a lot of factual evidence that I think the public wanted to know,” said Smorang.

In March, the city received a Court of King’s Bench order that it be paid $28 million as a settlement of fraud and construction deficiency lawsuits it raised over the headquarters project.

Serious concerns with the HQ project at 245 Smith St. have plagued the City of Winnipeg for years. The building opened in June 2016 at a cost of $214 million, well above its original $135-million price tag. An external audit found the project was severely mismanaged.

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

Smorang noted the inquiry’s second critical priority is to offer recommendations that help ensure the same mistakes are not repeated.

“My job, along with commission counsel, will be to put all that into a written report that … (with) actual practical recommendations that could be acted upon,” he said.

However, the commissioner noted there are some limits to what he can conclude, since witness testimony will not be considered evidence that can be used in future criminal or civil cases.

“I am constrained by my terms of reference from finding civil or criminal liability. Short of that, I intend my report to be thorough and blunt. And I intend to deal with behaviour in a very straightforward manner as I find it to have occurred,” said Smorang.

The commissioner is required to hand in his inquiry report to the Manitoba government by Dec. 31.

His comments followed a Wednesday morning hearing of the HQ inquiry, which featured a KPMG presentation on how the City of Winnipeg can improve its handling of future major projects.

“They continue to make strides in terms of getting better (but) at the end of the day, this is a journey of continual improvements,” said Ross Homeniuk, a partner with the audit firm.

Among several other recommendations, KPMG suggests the city create a formal and confidential way for companies to make reports to city council.

“(We need to) ensure that we’re able to have frank and open discussions about critical issues without it ending up front-page news the next day,” said Homeniuk.

KPMG also calls for the city to:

-Require project-specific governance plans

-Report more detail on schedule and budget updates

-Offer role-based project training for elected officials and staff

-Define minimum team requirements by project type

-Maintain a roster of pre-qualified external advisers (to potentially hire, if needed)

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-Tailor performance indicators to project objectives

-Require monthly risk reviews

Homeniuk stressed the city should also ensure it has enough staff to support each major project before it begins.

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.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.