Province says no talks have been held with city
The province said in a statement Thursday “there has been no formal or informal meetings involving officials from either the Province or the City of Regina with respect to the sale of the Global Transportation Hub.”
But several members of the Saskatchewan government caucus and cabinet have previously expressed a desire for the province to end its relationship with the GTH.
Earlier this week, Don Morgan — minister responsible for the GTH — said the province had not discussed the issue with the city but, “given the proximity and everything else, I’m sure it would be something they would have an interest in” and that it was something he was looking at “right now.”
MLAs Tina Beaudry-Mellor and Ken Cheveldayoff, who ran for leader and now sit in cabinet, have said they would sell the GTH.
Jeremy Harrison, an MLA who is also in cabinet and briefly ran for the leadership, also said he would divest the GTH.
Deputy premier Gord Wyant told the Leader-Post during his leadership bid, “The future of the GTH needs to be decided based on sound financial reasoning. If disposing of the GTH is in the best interest of the people of Saskatchewan then I wouldn’t stand in the way.”
Before becoming premier, Scott Moe said, “We should look at opportunities to move the management and possibly the ownership of the Global Transportation Hub to an entity that can ensure that it will become the asset to our economy that was originally envisioned.”
Despite Morgan’s comments about no formal or informal meetings about a sale of the GTH, NDP critic Cathy Sproule said that, given the province’s responses so far, it “would be safe to assume this is on the table for discussion.”
She noted there are a “number of outstanding issues with the City of Regina and GTH,” pointing to servicing agreements involving the two entities and “a whole host of outstanding issues they need to be talking about, so I think it’s safe to assume those discussions are ongoing.”
Sproule also pointed to the GTH’s struggles with selling land, saying, “That’s the problem they ’re facing, they have nobody to sell it to.”
Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said no discussions have yet taken place, but is signalling he wants some to happen.
“It sounds like it. It sounds like (Morgan’s) thought of something, and I would assume he and his colleagues have discussed this at some point, at some level, and they would want to make an outreach to the city in some fashion, so I suppose that’s the case,” he said.
In answering questions about a possible transfer to Regina, Morgan highlighted the GTH’s difficulty meeting land sales targets in recent years, which has helped contribute to $37 million worth of debt attached to the inland port, saying he wants to have a longterm strategy in place for the GTH and has tasked the facility’s board to present the province with some options.
“I don’t want to put out any ideas until they’ve had some discussion at the GTH and the board and the management there,” he said, noting there has been “no direction given as to whether they should explore a sale to the City of Regina at all.”
The GTH had an initial investment of $13.1 million for land. It has since has paid at least $11 million to disgruntled landowners after legal disputes. The GTH has also invested $35 million in services and infrastructure, as well as $7 million in land preparation costs.