December 13, 2019
Manitoba Provides Update on Investigation into Construction of Police Headquarters
Manitoba Justice’s Manitoba Prosecution Service (MPS) is providing an update on the RCMP investigation into the construction of the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters. Based on all available evidence, MPS is not authorizing any criminal charges based on the findings of the investigation.
The RCMP began an investigation, known as Project Dalton, in October 2014 related to the construction of the new Winnipeg Police Service headquarters. The investigation was lengthy and active for approximately two-and-a-half years. Its findings were provided to MPS for review at various stages of the investigation. The volume of the electronic disclosure was unprecedented – the police seized more than six terabytes of data. Those results consisted of 347 gigabytes of evidence including over 1,300 electronic folders and over 36,000 electronic files.
The role of MPS is to review the results of the police investigation to determine if there is a basis to support charges. This assessment was comprehensive and ongoing. It included requests to clarify aspects of the material provided as well as requests for followup investigation, while ensuring appropriate legal obligations were followed throughout the review. Several prosecutors were consulted, based on their knowledge and experience related to this type of investigation and related legal disciplines. The review of materials connected to Project Dalton continued throughout most of 2019.
In 2016, based upon evidence from the Project Dalton seizures, RCMP expanded its investigation to include the construction of the new Winnipeg Mail Processing Plant. The results of this investigation were provided to MPS in late 2017 and were reviewed until mid-2019. Both investigations involved numerous transactions over several years.
The reviews conducted by MPS examined whether various charges under the Criminal Code of Canada should be laid against individuals, as well as partner and corporate entities. Charges considered included breach of trust, fraud exceeding $5,000, forgery of documents, uttering forged documents, keeping false books or documents, and money laundering.
In all cases, two criteria must be met for charges to be laid. First, there must be sufficient evidence to support a reasonable likelihood of conviction. The second consideration is whether charges are in the public interest, but this can only be considered if the first standard is met.
After a comprehensive review of the legal issues and the foundational facts provided through the investigation, MPS has concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to approve any criminal charges as there is not a reasonable likelihood of conviction.
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