B. C. government considered land sales
VICTORIA — The B. C. government looked at the possibility of off- loading surplus property owned by the University Endowment Lands and the Royal BC Museum as part of its plan to sell $ 700 million in government assets, documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun show.
But on Thursday, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said conclusively the government will not sell anything from the two high- profile public- sector organizations.
“I can say with absolute certainty that in the case of both UBC and the museum that there are no lands that we’ve identified,” Falcon told The Vancouver Sun, adding the two entities were looked at as part of a sweeping government-review.
In February, Falcon announced a three- year plan to sell surplus properties that would help return the government to balanced budgets.
“We are preparing to sell some surplus assets that sit on government’s books, costing money with no return to taxpayers,” Falcon said during his 2012 budget speech.
“Our goal is to take those surplus assets and turn them into economic generators across British Columbia,” he added, making clear the only assets being considered would be ones of no value to the province.
“We will only consider selling properties that are not currently in use, that are not earmarked for future use, and are of no strategic benefit for the government to own,” he said.
At the time, Falcon said government was considering the sale of assets from numerous areas, including schools, universities, colleges, health authorities, ministries and Crown corporations.
Documents obtained Thursday show a detailed a list of organizations the government considered as being “in scope” for the sell- off, including: BC Housing, BC Pavilion Corp., health authorities, colleges and universities, the Royal BC Museum and the University Endowment Lands.
The documents also showed the province had ruled “out of scope” any BC Parks lands or any lands “set aside for active first nations treaty settlement.” It also deemed BC Hydro, B. C. Pension Corp. and the Insurance Corp. of B. C. to be out of scope for the review.
The documents also show a finalized list of potential surplus assets available for sale was presented to the Treasury Board on Jan. 12.
On Thursday, Falcon said the government will not release a list of the properties because doing so would compromise the province’s ability to negotiate the best price for each one.
“I think people are going to be hugely disappointed that it’s not going to be this wholesale thing they’re thinking of,” he said, adding it is normal for governments to sell surplus assets.
“Government sells land every year. All we’re doing is, six months ago we put together a team to coordinate the effort and make the review a little more strategic to maximize the return back to government,” he added. Falcon said he’s happy to say which individual pieces of land were included on the list, but only after each one has been publicly listed for sale.
New Democratic Party finance critic Bruce Ralston said he understands the need for the province to be strategic, but said he believes it should be more transparent.