Katz testimony at police HQ inquest a master class in denial By: Dan Lett Posted: 7:05 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026

In one sentence, Sam Katz helped Winnipeggers see the kind of mayor he really was.

On Thursday, Katz was on the stand of the Winnipeg Police Service Headquarters Inquiry, being grilled in public for the first time about what role he played in the awarding of the main contract and whether he received personal financial benefits as a result.

Katz was questioned by several lawyers about the hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of personal business dealings he and Phil Sheegl, the city’s former chief administrative officer, had with Caspian Construction owner Armik Babakhanians, who was awarded the contract to retrofit an office building in downtown Winnipeg to become police headquarters.

The main focus of these business dealings was the sale of a single acre of land in Arizona by Katz and Sheegl to Babakhanians just as he was being awarded the WPS contract.

“A seemingly innocuous statement that speaks volumes about the moral and ethical compass that guided Katz.”

Then, commission counsel Heather Leonoff asked him the obvious question: “Do you now acknowledge, having looked at it, that there was a conflict of interest, both by you and Mr. Sheegl?”

Katz did not hesitate, noting that “it would have been so much better and appropriate if I had … made people aware of this. But unfortunately, with everything that was going on, that never happened.”

It’s a seemingly innocuous statement that speaks volumes about the moral and ethical compass that guided Katz during his 10 years as mayor.

Katz never defined “everything that was going on,” so it’s tough to fully assess whether he had a legitimate excuse. However, under questioning, it became abundantly clear this was not a one-off transgression.

In fact, as the lawyers forced Katz to revisit the numerous times he had voted on matters related to the Caspian contract, a pattern of chronic disregard for his fiduciary duty came into focus.

When a politician knowingly ignores and fails to disclose one conflict of interest, it’s a pretty big deal. When that politician does it over and over again, then it’s a coverup.

Again, Katz was in the unusual position of having to answer questions about the intimate details of his business relationship with Sheegl and Babakhanians that have, for the most part, already been out in the public domain.

Exhaustive evidence that was revealed in a 2022 civil suit confirmed Katz and Sheegl shared what the court determined was a “bribe” from Babakhanians in exchange for securing the WPS headquarters contract. Katz and Sheegl have always maintained the money was related to the sale of a portion of undeveloped Arizona land to Babakhanians.

“What we got was a master class in the power of relentless denial.”

The civil proceeding ultimately found the real estate deal — which involved the sale of a single acre of land for what was then a hugely inflated price — was contrived to disguise the payments by Babakhanians.

There may be some observers who thought that Katz’s testimony would produce new details, or somehow expand our understanding of how the normal guardrails to keep elected officials and public servants honest failed.

Instead, what we got was a master class in the power of relentless denial.

Katz could not escape the fact he and Sheegl had repeatedly acted on behalf of the city in the awarding and oversight of the contract for the WPS headquarters while doing business with and thus living in a direct conflict of interest with the principal contractor.

As an aside, it should also be noted that in the civil suit against the former CAO, the court believed the so-called business between Sheegl, Katz and Babakhanians was not, in fact, a real-estate transaction at all. It was a payment to the two senior officials at city hall — one elected, one appointed — to secure a lucrative contract.

And how did Winnipeg’s former mayor respond?

Over and over again, Katz denied that his business with Babakhanians influenced his votes on matters related to the police headquarters contract. That is a rather astonishing admission by someone who wielded as much power as Katz did over his time in office.

The principle of fiduciary duty of elected officials, and the critical need for those officials to avoid conflicts of interest, are bedrock concepts in democracy. As such, individual politicians are not given the purview to decide, on their own, whether an individual conflict of interest is worthy of being disclosed or not.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Dan Lett | Not for Attribution

Tuesdays

A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world.

Sign up for Dan Lett | Not for Attribution

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Rather than revealing new facts about the WPS headquarters, Katz’s testimony revealed the former mayor’s true self. An elected official who ignored legal and ethical guardrails without hesitation and, to this day, disputes the suggestion that they were worthy of his attention.

Katz’s final words to the inquiry added a woeful cherry to the top of a rather unappetizing cake.

Despite the fact he admitted sharing in the proceeds of what a court of law found to be a bribe, Katz claims he was “offended and disappointed” that anyone thinks he would accept money from a businessman to influence his decisions at city hall.

That’s OK, because there are more than a few people in this town who are offended and disappointed he took the money at all.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca

Dan Lett
Columnist

Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986.  Read more about Dan.

Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.