NDP calls for a recall while RM requests inquiry into GTH land sale

REGINA – Once again the NDP are calling for a recall of the legislature before the election.

This time opposition leader Cam Broten wants to discuss – in question period – the Global Transportation Hub (GTH), a Crown corporation, buying 204 acres of land west of Regina at over $100,000 per acre.

The request came after receiving word from other concerned parties.

“There’s one business in particular that’s going through court proceedings and we’ve been contacted by folks who are upset with the way they’ve been treated,” Broten said at his Saskatoon constituency office.

Granitewest Industries is in the process of taking legal action against the province; alleging appraisers didn’t offer them fair compensations for their land near the GTH and future Regina Bypass under the Expropriation Procedures Act.

Some residents of the Rural Municipality of Sherwood are also taking issue with offers, telling their councilors they are being offered $5,000 or less per acre.

On Wednesday the RM’s council passed a resolution to request a public inquiry of the GTH deal and expropriation of land for the Regina Bypass.

“So the question that arises in council’s mind is why is it that for some landowners, and then for other landowners it’s been reported as high as $100,000 plus per acre,” RM Chief Administrative Officer Ron McCullogh said.

McCullogh added he planned on sending the official request to the government on Friday afternoon.

READ MORE: Saskatchewan auditor says government land deal investigation a priority

The province declined to comment in person, saying in a statement the NDP is “grandstanding” ahead of the provincial election. They added that the provincial auditor is investigating the matter and her report will be released once it is complete.

Associate professor of political science at the University of Regina James Fareny said given the NDP’s track record over the past four years, this request isn’t out of character.

“Instead of kind of big broad questions around the resource economy or relations with First Nations they’ve been trying to stick to very focused, in some ways small issues that they feel are representative of something larger,” he explained.

While the province’s statement doesn’t specifically say they won’t recall the legislature before the election, in their statement Farney said it would likely only happen after something bigger like a natural disaster.