BRANDT-CNIB PLAN BACK ON
PCC board wants more public consultation on Wascana Lake project
Brandt and CNIB are pressing ahead with their controversial project in Wascana Park, after getting a conditional green light from a government-controlled board.
But there is still no clarity on the kinds of tenants that will be allowed in the proposed 77,500-squarefoot (23,600-square-metre) building, and CNIB says it has no plans to change the design.
The Provincial Capital Commission (PCC) board decided on Jan. 21 that the project can pick up from where it left off last year, provided two conditions are met.
CNIB will have to conduct additional public consultation and show how the project complies with the five pillars of the Wascana Centre Master Plan, which limit the kinds of development allowed in the park.
The decision was announced on Friday. It came in tandem with the release of a report detailing transparency reforms for the PCC, including publishing step-by-step guidelines for approvals, a public consultation plan and summaries of board meetings.
They’re intended to respond to a scathing report from the provincial auditor, who faulted how the PCC board first approved the project.
“There’s no doubt that there’s room for improvement, and that’s something that we’re committing here today,” said Monique Goffinet Miller, CEO of the PCC.
“We fully expect ourselves in the next year to improve our processes. Today is Day One.”
The Brandt-cnib project was suspended in March 2019 as the provincial auditor conducted her review. In December, she revealed that the PCC board had failed to properly document how the project conformed to park rules. The so-called five pillars of the Master Plan restrict development to recreational, cultural, environmental, educational and government purposes.
Neither Miller nor PCC Minister Lori Carr were able to explain whether the condition forcing CNIB to comply with the five pillars will actually bar commercial or office use of the proposed building.
Miller stated that CNIB will have to provide a list of tenants that will be reviewed at the next phase of the approval process.
“During the detailed design, which is the step that the Canadian National Institute for the Blind project is in, there would be a review of whether or not that tenancy makeup is in compliance,” she said.
“It has always been our standard that the Master Plan 2016 has five pillars and tenancy would be deemed according to that.”
Carr called it a “very detailed” step that CNIB may have to repeat if it can’t meet the pillars.
Christall Beaudry, executive director of CNIB Foundation Saskatchewan, declined to provide any notion of what that tenancy list will look like, even in general terms. She would not rule out the possibility of commercial or office tenants.
“There are some things that might be of benefit to the park, that they would want to look at as potential commercial tenancies,” she said. “It could be around, like I said, a coffee shop or an amenity that would enhance the park.”
She welcomed Friday’s announcement as great news for CNIB and its clients. While she understands that the development has stoked passionate responses from critics, she argued that the park remains the perfect location for the blind and visually impaired.
“We want a centrally located space that’s transit adjacent, but also safe for people who are blind or partially sighted to learn how to navigate independently,” she said.
“The park provides us with a safe space.”
Brandt also welcomed the announcement in an email to the Leader-post, and pledged to work closely with PCC and CNIB “to ensure timely completion of the project, in keeping with the recommendations put forward by the provincial auditor.”
Beaudry said delays are costing the CNIB, which has to pay rent while it waits to move. Asked whether CNIB plans to make any major changes to its proposal, she said no.
Critics of the development argue that’s impossible if the PCC is serious about its conditions. Jim Gallagher, who has been active in opposition to the project, warned that legal action will follow if the project goes forward in its current form.
“If it proceeds without those kinds of radical alterations or changes, and if it proceeds without respecting the provincial auditor’s report ... then there are people in the community who are ready to proceed to a court of law,” said Gallagher.
Regina Coun. Barbara Young will be one of five members on the PCC board to weigh in on the fate of the project, though three government members hold a majority. She said she cannot predict how she will apply the five pillars without first hearing from CNIB and a panel of architects.
“I can’t tell you what I would do in the future,” she said. “I will have to see what comes forward.”
But like Beaudry, she noted that the park already includes commercial amenities like restaurants and business-oriented uses at Innovation Place.
The government is also promising a review of legislation and regulations covering the PCC.
Carr could not rule out the possibility of that affecting restrictions on the kind of projects allowed in the park, though she said it would not apply retroactively to ongoing projects.
It made me feel hopeless that I would never see justice in my lifetime as a young Indigenous man in this country. ANDRE BEAR