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Canada 17 Jun 2026

Ex-Calgary councillor directed use of personal phone over freedom of information concerns: docs

While investigating allegations of corruption at Calgary city hall, police say they uncovered text messages sent by former councillor Sean Chu to a man now accused of offering money for council votes in which Chu said to “keep conversations to his personal phone” because his work phone was “subject to Freedom of Information” disclosure.

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While investigating allegations of corruption at Calgary city hall, police say they uncovered text messages sent by former councillor Sean Chu to a man now accused of offering money for council votes in which Chu said to “keep conversations to his personal phone” because his work phone was “subject to Freedom of Information” disclosure. The revelation comes from an affidavit sworn by Det. Matt White, who is leading the investigation, which was launched last summer following a council vote on July 16. Police have executed several search warrants in connection with the investigation and seized the cellphones and other electronic devices of a number of people. Calgary Police Service lawyer Doug Taylor filed an application asking Justice Allan Fradsham to allow investigators to keep the cellphones for an additional nine months. Three of the phones that remain inaccessible to police belong to Chu, former mayor Jyoti Gondek and Nathan Robb, co-founder of Oldstreet, the developer of the proposed Bankview project. The court documents filed as part of CPS’s application reveal the corruption investigation centres around text message conversations found on the cellphone of David White, the founder of CivicWorks, a planning consultant who was guiding Oldstreet through the land-use bylaw amendment application.

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