Manitoba calls public inquiry into Winnipeg police HQ construction

Long-standing questions around the construction of Winnipeg’s police HQ may soon be answered.

That’s after it was announced a public inquiry will be held on the construction of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters, with the province spending $2 million to try and determine what went wrong on the project, which was finished two years late and came in $79 million over budget. 

In a news release Tuesday, Minister of Justice Matt Wiebe announced that long-time litigator Garth Smorang has been appointed commissioner of the public inquiry, bringing his roughly 40 years of experience forward to put the project under the microscope.

“Taxpayer dollars need to be spent transparently and Manitobans deserve to know the truth,” said Wiebe in the release.

“An inquiry into the police headquarters project will help restore public trust and confidence, and its recommendations will ensure best practices are used to prevent similar mistakes from being repeated.”

The inquiry will examine the circumstances around the renovation of the Winnipeg Police Service Headquarters, located on Smith Street, with the government saying the inquiry is needed to “restore public confidence in the city’s ability to build large, publicly funded construction projects.” 

“There’s a lot of unanswered questions that a public inquiry can provide, and what I’ll suggest is that those questions really come from the scope and the ability to step back to be able to look at all of the evidence that’s been provided, the investigations that have happened, but then be able to bring them forward in a way that quite frankly hasn’t been examined,” said the Justice Minister.

The news release explained Smorang has done immense work for both the private and public sectors, litigating both in front of administrative tribunals and the courts. He says he’s ready to get to work.

“We know that favor was sought,” he said. “An advantage was sought, and an advantage was given.”

“Audits have been done, KPMG I believe has done two audits, I have not seen them yet, but I will be asking for them quickly,” said Smorang at a press conference. “And that there is a plethora of other evidence including emails and other documents that tells the story, and so my first task will be to learn. To read, to learn, to understand what do we know now.”

As the commissioner, he’ll be leading the inquiry as it examines the City of Winnipeg’s past and current policies for planning, approving and managing projects as well as conflict-of-interest and disclosure obligations for elected officials and senior employees.

The timeline and manner in which the inquiry will be conducted is still being determined, with Smorang set to deliver a final report with his findings and recommendations by Jan. 1, 2027.