Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 17, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba <§> PAGE A1 The FLYER IN TODAY'S PAPER WINNIPEG SUBSCRIBERS ONLYFree Press FOR MANITOBA. FOR 150 YEARS. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022 SERVING WINNIPEG AND THE WEST SINCE 1872 • Mayor renews call for public inquiry into police HQ project • Ex-city CAO Sheegl took $327-K bribe after contract awarded: judgeOne of 'biggest scandals in Winnipeg's history' JOYANNE PURSAGA "T A ^NNIPEG’S mayor renewed his V V/ call for a public inquiry into t t the controversy-laden police headquarters construction project Wednesday after a judge found the city’s former top bureaucrat accepted a bribe from a key contractor. “This is one of the biggest scandals in Winnipeg’s history,” Brian Bowman told reporters. Court of Queen’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal issued a 126-page ruling Tuesday in which he found former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl accepted a $327,000 bribe from Caspian Construction owner Armik Babakhanians. Serious concerns over the renovation of the onetime Canada Post facility, at 266 Graham Ave., have plagued city council for years. The building opened in June 2016 at a cost of about $214 million, well above its original $135 million price tag. An external audit found the project had been severely mismanaged. In February 2017, city council endorsed Bowman’s original call for the province to open a public inquiry. The RCMP conducted a lengthy investigation into fraud and forgery allegations, but no criminal charges were laid. In 2020, the city launched a civil suit, alleging a fraudulent scheme took place. Bowman described the legal challenge as a last resort to seek answers and compensation for Winnipeggers. “Taxpayers need to have confidence that when there are claims of bribery ^individuals need to be held accountable,” he said. In his ruling, Joyal concluded that Sheegl should pay damages that could exceed $700,000. That figure includes $327,200 to equal the alleged bribe, $250,000 to equal a severance package he received from the city and $100,000 in punitive damages, along with “reasonable” city court costs that have yet to be determined. “Based on the evidence before me, were I to find that Sheegl’s undisclosed receipt of the $327,200 payment from Armik (for whatever reason), while Sheegl was an officer with the city and while he was negotiating a multimil-lion-dollar contract with Armik’s company, did not constitute a breach of fiduciary duty, I would in my view be sending a preposterous message,” the decision states. “That message would be nothing short of suggesting that high-ranking public officials can do business in secret with persons seeking contracts from the very public bodies for whom public officials work. Neither the law nor common sense support or justify such a dubious conclusion or message.” Bowman said the ruling has raised serious concerns that a public inquiry could help address. “(It’s) one of the best ways to compel the testimony on record, of individuals who may no longer be in the city of Winnipeg^ (and) better ensure that these sorts of things don’t happen again,” he said. The mayor noted the city is still pursuing legal action against additional defendants, which could secure greater compensation, since the original civil suit was split up into smaller components. “There is another action that is ongoing that involves much more sig nificant dollars that we’re hoping to be able to recover,” he said. Neither he nor city staff was able to pinpoint the precise amount of damages being sought Wednesday. Despite Bowman’s argument, Premier Heather Stefanson told reporters it would be “premature” to hold an inquiry. “There was just a ruling on one part of this,” she said. “This remains before the courts and obviously, before we make any decisions on whether or not to call any public inquiry, we need to make sure that all avenues are exhausted before that.” The city alleged in the suit that in July 2011, shortly after the contract was awarded to Caspian, the company paid $200,000 to co-defendant Mountain Construction (also owned by Ba-bakhanians), which then paid the same amount to Sheegl’s company, Financial Support Services Inc. A year later, the city says Babakhanians paid Sheegl another $127,000. • SHEEGL, CONTINUED ON A2 • DAN LETT: MONKEY BUSINESS / A2 Phil Sheegl accepted $327,000 from the owner of Caspian Construction after it was awarded the police HQ contract, a judge ruled. Top doc gives final update; test, vax sites set to close Province shows COVID-19 the door KATIE MAY JUST days after lifting all pandemic restrictions, the provincial government signalled Wednesday its public battle against COVID-19 is all but over, as it announced an end to regular updates, and plans to close testing and vaccination sites. “We know that COVID-19 very likely will be part of our lives for years to come, so we can’t wait for COVID-19 to be gone before we start our journey of healing,” chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin told reporters while delivering his last formal briefing virtually, rather than in person from his familiar spot at the legislature. He announced 18 PCR testing sites will close as of Sunday, and vaccination clinics are winding down operations over the next few weeks, although the RBC Convention Centre supersite will stay open “a while longer.” Health officials will monitor transmission and the province will continue to report hospitalizations linked to the virus, Roussin said, describing that figure as the most important, though lagging, indicator of the state of the pandemic in Manitoba. Roussin didn’t say what a future surge might look like for hospitals that are still in recovery mode, but noted the province’s modelling indicates admissions continue to show a downward trend. Vaccination numbers and the tsunami of infections from the Omicron variant that raced through the population during the Christmas season suggest overall immunity is high, but he did not provide hard data. He said the province has plans to respond again if transmission spikes or a new variant explodes, but he offered no details. • COVID, CONTINUED ON A2 SHE'S ON FIRE No. 1 player in Free Press coaches poll leads St. Mary's Academy Flames into battle as provincial Final Four heats up / C3 MIKE SUDOMA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS St. Mary's Academy Flames post/guard Mia Banmann is expected to see a lot of the court tonight in a semifinal game against Westwood. She averages 26 points and 18 rebounds per game. Billion-dollar city firm brought to its knees by hackers CHRIS KITCHING OPERATIONS at a Winnipeg-based plastic packaging giant were disrupted for about two weeks after its computer network was held “ransom” in a “sophisticated” cyberattack that’s becoming increasingly common in Canada. Hackers infiltrated Winpak Ltd., which has manufacturing plants in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, in a ransom-ware attack, sources told the Free Press. Tasks had to be done manually while computers were “down,” and everything from order processing to email and phone systems were disrupted, the sources said. One source was unable to contact employees at the Winnipeg plant for a “significant” period of time following the attack. A spokesman for Winpak, based at 100 Saulteaux Cres. in the Murray Industrial Park in St. James, said the company learned on Feb. 21 its network had been “targeted through sophisticated and unauthorized means.” Operations didn’t return to normal until early last week, he said. Winpak would not say how much money was demanded or if a ransom was paid. Such attacks can be very profitable for cyber criminals, netting them tens of thousands or even millions of dollars. “Winpak immediately took action to protect our infrastructure and we are back resuming normal business operations,” the company said a prepared statement. “We are working with a team of third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident and are taking all the necessary steps to respond to the incident. “This matter is of the utmost concern to Winpak and is being treated as our highest priority. We thank everyone for their patience during this time.” A Winpak spokeswoman said details were given to staff and customers, and the matter was being dealt with internally by senior management and the legal department. She was “not sure” if the cyberattack had been reported to police. A Winnipeg police spokeswoman said the service “does not have anything further to add beyond Winpak’s statement.” Unifor Local 830, which represents Winpak employees, declined to comment. • HACKED, CONTINUED ON A2 WEATHER MAINLY CLOUDY. HIGH 0 — LOW -7 INSIDECIVILIANS TARGETEDRussian forces destroy theatre where hundreds were sheltering: Ukraine / A9BORDER OR BUSTOttawa to end pre-arrival COVID-19 tests for vaxxed travellers as of April 1 / A3CHEERS, SANTÉ, SLAINTE^However you say it, after two years of subdued St. Patrick's Days, it's time to raise a glass / D1 A_01_Mar-17-22_FP_01.indd 1 2022-03-16 10:36 PM ;