Former Calgary leaders fight to block police access to seized phones

Lawyers for former Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and ex-councillor Sean Chu challenged police efforts to keep their clients' phones in an ongoing corruption investigation on June 18.

Rebecca Snukal, Gondek's counsel, told the Court of Justice that police have no reasonable timeline for examining the devices and lack a concrete plan to crack their security barriers. "An admission that there is no timeline, that there's not specific step plan for this phone within the year is the opposite of the kind of evidence that is demanded," Snukal said.

Chu's lawyer, Shamsher Kothari, added that police are wasting time waiting for software to break into the phones. "When we have no evidence whatsoever that they're even working on the problem, I think it's fatal to the Calgary Police Service's application," Kothari argued.

Investigators allege Gondek and Chu were involved in an influence-peddling scheme where council reconsidered a bylaw change to allow a townhome development in exchange for campaign donations exceeding the allowable amount. None of these allegations have been tested in court and no charges have been laid.

According to Calgary police Detective Matthew White's affidavit, officers began investigating the pair and others in July 2025 for municipal corruption, obstruction of justice, and fabricating evidence. White stated police need one year with the devices to preserve potential evidence while waiting for advanced software to bypass security.

Snukal also confirmed that neither White nor anyone from the investigative team has asked Gondek for her password. Justice Allan Fradsham reserved his decision on extending the phone retention until July.