Regina mayor says if voters don't like land deal, they can vote council out next election

Regina Mayor Sandra Masters is defending a $4-million land deal to an unnamed company this morning. 

On Monday, council unanimously approved an option for an undisclosed company to purchase more than 250 hectares of land north of the city. The purchaser is described as "an independent commercial party." 

The Leader Post has reported the company is agribusiness giant Viterra. CBC Saskatchewan has contacted Viterra for comment and has not heard back. 

The $4-million purchase price for the 633.6 acres (256.4 hectares) of land is below market value, but the potential development was touted as bringing "substantial economic opportunity for the City of Regina," according to a report by city administration.

On Thursday morning, Masters spoke to The Morning Edition's host Stefani Langenegger. You can hear their conversation below, or read through an abbreviated version, which has been edited for clarity and length. 

Langenegger: What can you tell us, mayor, about the land deal that city council approved? 

Masters: I can tell you what's already been in the paper. There was a company that had approached the city some months ago in terms of looking to option some land, and that was undertaken and our process was followed by our city administration in terms of public notice and in terms of debate. There were hours of debate among council in terms of being briefed on it by administration and that decision was a 10-zero decision on Monday. We're looking for the economic impact. We're looking to put people back to work and we're looking to grow certain sectors of our city. 

Langenegger: The paper says it's Viterra. Is that the case? 

Masters: I will not comment. I will not say or do anything that will jeopardize the potential for this deal going forward. 

Langenegger: Why is this a good deal such that you're offering the land at lower than market value? 

Masters: First off ... we ran the numbers and we involved some of the data folks from Economic Development Regina to help inform us on what makes sense from a business case, to ensure that we're getting the most bang for taxpayer bucks.... It's a three per cent GDP growth, and those types of opportunities do not come along regularly. In fact, I think the last time private industry spent $800 million in our community was some time ago. 

Langenegger: How many ongoing jobs beyond initial construction jobs might there be? 

Masters: The initial and the spinoff, I think the estimates from Economic Development Regina are in the low hundreds to over 1,000 in terms of the spinoff that could be created.

Langenegger: What about just how many jobs at this business, whatever it is?

Masters: It's too specific, I won't answer the question. 

Langenegger: OK, I mean, I guess it's really hard to know how people in Regina, citizens who take part in the democratic process normally, can continue to do that if it's so opaque and secret. 

Masters: I don't believe it's opaque and secret. I don't believe that you negotiate, for example, on a house with advertising to everyone what your purchase price offer is. I think that every deal that gets done between two parties is a private deal. Again, the administration followed public process. There was advertisement that we were posting these lands up for sale. 

And in terms of the analysis, again, depending upon both our legal department and our financial department and our economic development department to come to us with a recommendation and do that fulsome analysis, and all of that was done. Once it becomes public, I think those numbers will make sense to folks. 

Langenegger: But how do we know you're doing what we would want you to do, if we don't know what you're doing? 

Masters: I think that that will come to light when the deal is approved. And then the proof will be in the pudding. The fact of the matter is, is that council in terms of where decisions get made, the explanation for the deal going forward was pretty well laid out. And so once the deal goes forward, folks can have a look at it to determine whether or not they do agree with it. 

Langenegger: What if we don't? Is there any ability to overturn it? 

Masters: No, you should go out and vote three-and-a-half years from now. 

Langenegger: OK, so if we don't like this idea, vote out anyone who voted for it? 

Masters: I think, at the end of the day, you voted in elected officials. You have an administration which is overlooking the city administration and both parties are tasked with making the best decisions for the City of Regina.

And again, when economic opportunities arise — and we've lost them before because we haven't been able to be competitive. We're competing with every other jurisdiction because ... in these economic times everyone is bidding on projects like this because everyone wants money being spent in construction happening in their cities with long-term job opportunities. That was the opportunity before us and we made a decision, and I'm very comfortable with the decision to put people back to work.