Deals based on ‘factually wrong’ information: watchdog

A new report from the province’s information and privacy commissioner says the Global Transportation Hub (GTH) land deals were based on “factually wrong” information.

The provincial auditor released a report earlier this year on the GTH land deals and concluded taxpayers paid too much for 204 acres of land west of Regina.

But why that happened is unclear to many, including the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Prairie director, Todd MacKay.

“That’s a big deal because ultimately this decision cost taxpayers millions of dollars,” he says.

At least some of the answer is becoming clearer for MacKay, after he filed an access to information request into the GTH land deals.

When the province was considering buying the land in 2013, it did so based on recommendations resulting from land appraisals.

It recommended the purchase price be $21 million, despite the government’s own appraisal pegging the cost at $12 million.

The province has justified the eventual cost — $21 million — based in part on the advice provided in another appraisal.

According to a document obtained by MacKay, another appraisal listed the total value at $26 million.

MacKay followed up with the privacy commissioner to see if the heavy redactions in that document were legal.

In his response, commissioner Ron Kruzeniski wrote that the company responsible for the $26-million appraisal did not want to be named because, “The third party asserted that what has been released would be clearly attributed to the third party and it is factually wrong. I find that the name of the third party when combined with the information already released in the paragraph could cause the harms alleged by the third party.”

MacKay says the company suggesting the information is “factually wrong” is cause for a full and independent audit to get taxpayers the answers they deserve.

“That third-party doesn’t want its name associated with that appraisal because the information as it was presented to the government was factually wrong,” he said.

The information brought to light by MacKay comes one day before the GTH is set to be the focus of a legislative committee.

Its annual report will be the subject of review on Tuesday and it is expected the opposition NDP will continue efforts to force the government to be more transparent about the GTH and its land deals.

“We have a number of questions about the finances at the GTH, and particularly how they reflect back to taxpayer investment. There are some very serious questions about the viability at this point in time, of the operation,” said the NDP’s Cathy Sproule, who notes the Crown corporation has brought in significantly less revenue than it budgeted for in consecutive years.

“The last few years they have been way out of whack in terms of their projections,” she said.