City of Winnipeg dismisses dozens of defendants in police headquarters legal battle

WINNIPEG — The City of Winnipeg has dismissed claims against dozens of defendants in the legal battle over a police headquarters project that went awry.

At the March 23, 2023 council meeting an executive policy committee report was read that recommended dismissing claims against all defendants except for contractor Caspian Construction Inc. and 11 other Caspian-related defendants, who now owe the city the entire $21.5 million settlement.

King’s Bench Justice Glenn Joyal issued a judgment on Dec. 15, 202, dismissing the city’s claims against all defendants except Caspian and Caspian-related parties.

The police headquarters in Winnipeg, located at 245 Smithe St. opened in 2016 at a cost of approximately $214 million. The city originally filed a suit in 2020 after a five-year RCMP investigation into the project which resulted in no criminal charges.

In 2022, a judge found the city’s then chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl accepted a $327,000 bribe from contractors for favourable treatment on the project.

“In his judgment on the civil case, Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal noted that extensive records show Sheegl worked to extend deadlines, lower bonding requirements, leak confidential information and sever a design contract to benefit Caspian Construction,” the Journal of Commerce reported at the time.

An expansion of the original lawsuit took place in May 2022 after the City of Winnipeg’s attorneys filed a notice of motion add new parties to its lawsuit after they collected new evidence from Caspian Construction computer servers provided by the RCMP.

The remaining defendants, according to media reports, are: