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The RCMP are investigating an allegation that the principal and founder of a local planning consulting firm offered campaign donations in exchange for votes from Calgary city council.
CBC News first reported in March that the RCMP was looking into allegations of corruption at city hall and that search warrants had been executed on a number of properties, including the homes of former mayor Jyoti Gondek, former councillor Sean Chu and sitting councillor Andre Chabot.
On Wednesday, Gondek’s lawyer Rebecca Snukal was in court in an attempt to quash a police application seeking to extend the warrants which allow investigators to keep some of the cellphones seized during the searches.
New details of the allegations at the heart of the case emerged during the hearing, in part through an affidavit filed by the lead investigator, Calgary Police Service Det. Matt White.
CPS initially handled the investigation with Det. White as lead investigator, but in October the case was handed over to the RCMP’s Federal Policing Northwest Region unit, which handles cases involving politicians. Det. White stayed on as lead investigator and was seconded to RCMP.
In the affidavit, Det. White confirms police are investigating potential offences, including municipal corruption, obstruction of justice and fabricating evidence.
None of the allegations made in the police affidavit have been proven in court. No one has been charged in connection with the investigation.
Gondek vote ‘mathematically irrelevant’
According to that affidavit, CPS initiated an investigation in July 2025 into the circumstances surrounding a vote on a proposed land-use bylaw amendment application in the neighbourhood of Bankview.
The vote in question took place on July 16 and resulted in a 6-6 tie. Then-mayor Gondek was not present at the time.
The vote was revisited after then-councillor Chu tabled a reconsideration motion.
The second vote passed 8-5 after Chu changed his vote and Gondek, then present, cast hers.
“It’s Chu’s vote that made the motion pass,” argued Snukal. “Ms. Gonkek’s participation was mathematically irrelevant to the outcome.”
Phone ‘yielded evidence of the offences’
Police say they received information that David White, who runs CivicWorks, a company that assists developers navigate city processes, “had been offering campaign donations that exceeded the maximum allowed to councillors in exchange for them tabling a reconsideration motion.”
David White’s phone was seized on Sept. 16, 2025.
According to Det. White’s affidavit, a search of that phone “yielded evidence of the offences.”
“It was determined that Gondek had provided guidance to White on a tactic to approach another councillor in an effort to secure a reconsideration motion,” reads the court document.
“The reconsideration created an opportunity to reopen voting on the application so Gondek could cast a ballot in favour of it.”
Cops want to keep locked phones
CBC News reached out by email and phone to David White of CivicWorks. He did not reply.
In March, further search warrants — including on Gondek and Chu — were executed and their cellphones were seized.
Now police want to keep Gondek’s cellphone longer because they’ve been unable to unlock it.
“I believe [the phone] will afford evidence pertaining to Gondek counselling [David] White,” wrote Det. Matt White.
Cops relying on ‘fanciful assumptions’
But Gondek’s lawyer Rebecca Snukal argued against the continued detention of her client’s phone.
“This amounts to application for indefinite pre-charge detention of Ms. Gondek’s personal property on the basis of speculation alone,” said Snukal.
Justice Allan Fradsham denied Snukal’s application, meaning CPS lawyer Doug Taylor will now proceed to a hearing.
But first several of the parties, including Gondek and Chu, want to cross-examine Det. Matt White on his affidavit.
“The Calgary police theory of political corruption simply doesn’t fit the facts of this case, it relies on fanciful assumptions rather than evidence,” said Chu’s lawyer, Shamsher Kothari.
“I look forward to cross-examining the primary detective on our next hearing dates.”
The parties will return to court later this month and again in July.
