Council to mull $1.2-M boost to police HQ legal claim

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This article was published 14/09/2021 (1155 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg could soon spend a further $1.2 million on a legal battle linked to the Winnipeg Police Service downtown headquarters project.

A new public service report calls for council to approve a budget overrun to cover external legal and forensic accounting services. It would help fund the city’s legal attempt to seek damages for alleged fraud.

“The cost of the project increased significantly during construction, raising important questions as to whether the citizens of Winnipeg received value for the money spent. The decision to commence civil litigation followed an initial forensic review, which identified over $20 million of contractor and subcontractor claims related to the project that are not clearly documented or accounted for,” Doug Brown, director of legal services, writes in the report.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Brown argues the city’s legal services department lacks the resources to handle the complex case itself. The report notes the case initially required about 1.8 million documents to be assessed, while more data has since been located.

The funding would add to $2.85 million of external legal fees that council previously approved for the same case.

In 2016, the WPS headquarters at 266 Graham Ave. opened years late with a cost of about $214 million, well above its original $135-million price tag.

The report notes the city may be able to recover its legal costs, if the court challenge proves successful.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga