Public inquiry into Winnipeg construction project gets more funding
A public inquiry examining cost overruns on construction of the Winnipeg Police Service’s headquarters is looking at higher-than-expected costs.
The Manitoba government has approved $300,000 in addition to the original $2-million budget for the inquiry, which is set to start next month.
The extra funding is needed to cover lawyer fees, expert testimony and other items in the inquiry led by commissioner Garth Smorang, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said Jan. 8.
“It’s about bringing together his team and looking at exactly who is going to need to be called in order to get the information needed, to do the inquiry correctly,” Wiebe said.
“Now that he’s got a little bit more information, I think it’s now going to be on track to be able to bring this to a conclusion.”
The inquiry, announced last year, is to examine the purchase and conversion of a former Canada Post building that became the new police headquarters. The project ran $79 million over its initial $135-million budget by the time it was completed in 2016.
The project was mired in controversy and the city filed a lawsuit against several people, including its former chief administrative officer, Phil Sheegl. A judge in civil court found Sheegl accepted a $327,000 bribe from a contractor.
Sheegl argued the money was for an unrelated real estate deal in Arizona. He appealed the ruling and lost. The Court of Appeal said Sheegl was engaged in 14 different derelictions of duty that amounted to disgraceful and unethical behaviour by a public servant.
Police investigated and the Crown decided not to lay charges. The Manitoba Prosecution Service said last year, after reviewing the matter again, there was no reasonable likelihood of a conviction in criminal court, where a case must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The inquiry is scheduled to start Feb. 10 and run until mid-June. A list of expected witnesses has not yet been released.
Manitoba’s last major public inquiry ran well over budget before it wrapped up in 2013. It examined how the child welfare system failed five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair, a girl killed by her mother and the woman’s boyfriend after social workers closed the child’s file.
The inquiry was initially allotted $4.7 million but ended up costing $14 million as it dragged on and procedural arguments added to the timeline.
Wiebe said he’s confident Smorang’s inquiry will remain within its new budget, as some of the examination has already been done through a municipal audit and the civil court case.
“I think that allows (Smorang) to have a better sense of the exact scope and process that he’s going to undertake,” Wiebe said.