Sam Katz, Phil Sheegl to testify in first phase of Winnipeg police HQ inquiry

Former Winnipeg CAO Phil Sheegl (left) and former Mayor Sam Katz (right) are shown in file images.

Winnipeg’s former mayor and chief administrative officer are set to testify this month in a probe examining why the downtown Winnipeg police headquarters project went tens of millions of dollars over budget.

The first phase of the inquiry, dubbed The Redevelopment Project, gets underway on Feb. 10.

Former Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz is expected to testify during this phase, along with City of Winnipeg purchasing manager Barb D’Avignon, city project manager Jason Ruby, PCL Construction’s Sean Barnes, ICI Properties president John Pearson and lawyer Eleanor Andres, who is listed as an expert witness.

Former city CAO Phil Sheegl is expected to testify from Feb. 17 to 20 along with Caspian Construction’s Armik Babakhanians.

Subsequent phases will explore “The Money Trail,” as well as city policies and practices then and now, recommendations for change, and submissions. That will be the final phase and is scheduled to run through much of June.

All hearings will be at the Public Utilities Board offices.

Inquiry follows RCMP investigation, lawsuits

The $2 million inquiry ordered by Premier Wab Kinew in February 2025 is aimed at finding out why the $200 million-plus project ballooned so out of control from its initial $135 million price tag, running two years behind schedule in the process.

Lawyer Garth Smorang was appointed commissioner.

An RCMP investigation was launched into the project in 2014, but Manitoba Prosecutions announced years later there was not sufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally involved in the police station project.

However, the NDP obtained a three-page RCMP briefing note from May 2018 through an Access to Information and Privacy request, showing Mounties believed they had enough evidence for charges and arrests related to the construction of the project.

Previous court documents filed by the RCMP alleged the city was the victim of a multi-million-dollar fraud, as costs for the station spiked.

The city went on to sue Sheegl and two dozen other defendants over the project. In 2022, a judge ruled Sheegl accepted a $327,000 bribe from the contractor involved in the construction of the headquarters projects.

The judge awarded the city legal costs, the $250,000 paid to Sheegl in severance plus interest, as well as punitive costs of $100,000.

In 2023, city council agreed to settle two lawsuits the city brought forward related to cost overruns associated with the project.

The city won a minimum of $21.5 million from the agreement, which could rise to $28 million depending on when the money is paid to the city.

A 2023 report to council said this would cover both the “deficiencies” and “fraud” claims against all parties, minus the separate action against Sheegl and other defendants.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article identified John Pearson as a former Shindico executive. CTV News regrets the error.

- With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele