Police HQ contractor loses bid to stop city from getting documents seized in RCMP raid

Winnipeg police headquarters building contractor Caspian Construction lost a skirmish Friday in its battle against a city lawsuit alleging fraud and kickbacks.

The contractor was unsuccessful in its motionto halt an order for the RCMP to give the City of Winnipeg documents seized as part of an abandonedcriminal fraud investigationthat resulted in no charges.

The city requested the documents for a lawsuit filed at the beginning of the year that names more than two dozen defendants including contractors and the City of Winnipeg's former chief administrative officer, Phil Sheegl andalleges the construction cost of the police headquarters was inflated through fraudulent paperworkand secret kickbacks.

Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal refused to stop the turnover of documents, saying Caspian did not provide evidence that doing so would cause the contractor irreparable harm.

"Despite having copies of what they had previously said were the same documents as the RCMP, despite having many months to confront this issue, the Caspian defendants have provided nothingnothing but vague allusions to confidentiality and privilege," Joyalsaid in an oral decision delivered Friday.

• Winnipeg sues ex-CAO, contractors, claiming they defrauded city in police HQ project

Caspian's appeal of the order argues it is contrary to "the law, evidence and weight of evidence," because the judge failed to conclude, amongother things, that Caspian could have turned over the documents itself and that ownership and privacy rights are paramount.

The final decision whether the city will be able to use the RCMP documents as evidence in its civil lawsuit will be made by the Manitoba Court of Appeal, but for now, the city has been granted access to the documents so it can continue building its case.

Joyal said the city would be harmed if the production of documents was put on hold because it is entitled to have its action dealt with as soon as possible.

"The city is being realistic when it submits that the experts' review and analysis of the RCMP documents and the preparation of the report will undoubtedly take many months to complete," Joyal said.

The trial is expected to be scheduled within approximately two years, saidJoyal. All parties agreed to case management a process intended to move the court process along.

Manitoba is the only province other than P.E.I. that doesn't require the court's permission to launch an appeal of interim orders issued beforethe completion of a trial, Joyal said.

None of the city's allegations have been proven in court.