(The Canadian Press circulated the following on December 9.)
REGINA — Federal and provincial officials are touting a new transportation deal they say will boost economic development in Saskatchewan, but details on the multimillion-dollar plan need to be worked out.
Ottawa says it will contribute up to $27 million toward establishing Regina as a major transportation hub. The four-year project, expected to cost $93 million, will upgrade highways, roads and railways for access to a new Canadian Pacific terminal near Regina’s airport that will handle container shipments.
Provincial, municipal and company officials still have to figure out how much cash they’ll kick in.
Saskatchewan Highways Minister Wayne Elhard says the province’s share will go toward infrastructure and not directly to the Canadian Pacific building.
A CP official says the building itself will cost about $50 million, although funding is still under discussion.
The railway’s current terminal is in downtown Regina. The new facility will not replace the downtown rail yards.
“It really will create thousands of jobs and literally millions of dollars of economic development in the region,” Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco said at Friday’s announcement.
Opposition politicians in Saskatchewan suggested it would be hypocritical for the province to support such a project, especially since the government recently cancelled a memorandum of understanding with a private company that would have reopened a mothballed pulp mill in Prince Albert, Sask.
Darcy Furber, an NDP member of the legislature who represents a Prince Albert constituency, suggested the Saskatchewan Party appeared to be favouring Regina constituents over his own.
“They seem to be picking winners and losers, don’t they?” Furber said.
But the provincial government says the project is different from the pulp mill deal because it won’t have a share of ownership in the rail terminal.
Elhard also notes the terminal would never be built unless governments invest in infrastructure like roads that will support the terminal.