Just because the provincial auditor could not find any actual “wrongdoing” in the Global Transportation Hub (GTH) land deals, does not mean taxpayers did not get screwed.
The much-anticipated report by Judy Ferguson released last week said the government did a poor job of acquiring land and paid too much for it, but did not find evidence of fraud or conflict of interest.
The report must be both a relief and a kick in the gut for Premier Brad Wall because it also contains the stunning revelation that a mysterious land appraisal the Saskatchewan Party has been using as justification for the overpayment was not relevant to the negotiations, if it ever even existed.
Just as a reminder, way back in 2010 and 2011, the Ministry of Highways bought some land west of Regina for a bypass from a group of nuns and a company called McNally Enterprises for $9,000 and $11,000 per acre respectively. They did so under threat of expropriation.
According to a CBC iTeam report, with the threat of further expropriation looming over their heads, the Sisters and McNally sought to sell the rest of their land, listing it closer to the market value, which at the time was somewhere around $38,000 per acre.
An Alberta business man, Robert Taupauf, who claims he didn’t know about the bypass, closed the deal on February 26, 2013 for $45,000 per acre on McNally’s property and $55,000 on the Sisters’. That same day, he turned around and sold it for $71,000 and $85,000 respectively to a numbered Regina company owned by Regina developers Anthony Marquart and Harold Rotstien.
One would have to conclude that these guys are terrible businessmen for overpaying that much for land except, later, the Government of Saskatchewan would buy that land for $103,000 per acre, two to three times the appraised value. Both Taupauf and the Regina duo made millions just for flipping real estate under what can still only be considered some very shady circumstances.
None of it made any sense. If the government is capable of expropriating land below value, why would it ever pay more? It didn’t add up. It stunk to high heaven. It still does.
CBC also turned up a connection between then-finance minister Bill Boyd and Taupauf. The minister rented land from a Taupauf company and one of Taupauf’s companies donated directly to the minister’s 2011 election campaign. Boyd and the premier were indignant anyone would suggest conflict of interest.
As it turns out, Marquart is also a big Saskatchewan Party financial supporter. As an aside, that is not a smoking gun, but it is a good argument for why we need to get corporate money out of politics.
Despite the putrid stink surrounding this affair, Wall doubled down on the excuse that the seller had an appraisal for $129,000 while the government’s own high end appraisal was around $60,000. They paid $103,000, a good deal except when you consider they could have gotten it for one-tenth of that. And except when you consider the auditor’s report says the government negotiator considered the seller’s appraisal irrelevant and it wasn’t even provided until after the sale was closed.
Finally, the GTH (a Crown corporation) turned around and sold the land to the Ministry of Highways for less than half the original purchase price.
In responding to the auditor’s report, Wall continued to cling to the elusive seller’s appraisal calling for it to be made public, as if that somehow matters at this point as it was not part of the negotiation to begin with.
He admitted that mistakes were made and said he takes responsibility for the overpayment, but that he believes the land deal will be still be a net win for the province. Whether the government makes money on the land in the long run, is also totally irrelevant.
Ultimately, some rich guys got richer, the public got screwed and no politician was harmed in the making of this scandal.
We honestly do not expect governments, MLAs or even premiers to be perfect, but this particular boondoggle is beyond acceptable.
To stand up now and say mistakes were made and we will make the money back in the future is simply not good enough, Mr. Wall.
