REGINA — The finger-pointing was on at the Legislature Thursday over the controversy surrounding a second Costco location in Regina.
On Wednesday, Regina city council approved a $6.78 million in an incentive package so that Costco could proceed in their originally-proposed Westerra location, instead of take a more favourable deal from the Global Transportation Hub to locate there.
Council did eventually approve the incentive, but not before councillors hurled criticism at the provincial government for allowing a government entity in the GTH to compete with the city over Costco.
Now, the provincial New Democrats have gotten involved. At the legislature Thursday, NDP MLA for Regina Walsh Acres Jared Clarke told reporters it was “super disappointing to see what has transpired in terms of trying to find a location for a second Costco in West Regina.”
“To have the Sask Party government - the GTH - trying to outbid the city at one level of government, trying to compete and outbid another level of government, is really concerning. I know folks in my constituency, Regina Walsh Acres, and pretty much everyone up in the northwest part of the city want to see a second Costco, are very excited about that. But now… taxpayers in Regina are going to have to pay an extra $7 million to see that Costco within city limits. So really disappointing.”
He believed that the GTH’s involvement to attract Costco “seems inappropriate as this isn't the GTH's mandate. They're not in the retail space.”
On Friday, the NDP issued a further statement on the whole matter, accusing the government of “robbing Regina taxpayers of nearly $7 million." They called for an apology from minister David Marit.
“I am calling on the Minister responsible for the GTH Dave Marit to stand in the Legislature on Monday and apologize to the people of this province,” said Clarke in a statement.
At the legislature Daniel Hersche, President and CEO of the Global Transportation Hub, spoke to reporters Thursday to help clear up details on what had transpired with Costco. He made it known it was not the GTH who had made the first move.
"We were approached by Costco. We never approached them," Hersche said.
As for their deal with Costco, Hersche confirmed Costco had cancelled their deal with developer Forster Harvard before making a deal with the GTH.
“They did approach us. I did see things in the news. Whatever they had in place with Westerra, I mean, that's between them and the developer. But we didn't execute nor sign anything until that agreement was terminated,” Hersche said.
“We knew that they had interest in the site. Other than that, we didn't execute anything while they had an agreement in place, from my understanding.”
Locating in the GTH as opposed to Westerra would have also had municipal tax implications for Costco and for the city of Regina. Hersche explained the municipal tax revenues at the GTH location would have been collected not by the city, but by the GTH.
“It does function like municipality. We do pay the City of Regina servicing fees for services. So, about 30 per cent of our tax revenue does go back to the City of Regina, but that's through our servicing agreements that we have in place with them."
It was noted by Hersche that Costco had seemed a good fit for the GTH, because it was a wholesale business.
“Costco does locate in logistics parks and industrial parks across North America. So, it is unfortunate that we are viewed as competing with them, but, you know, Costco is a private business and they can choose to locate where... what makes sense for their business.”
Hersche said the major mandate of the GTH is to create jobs for Saskatchewan.
“Again, that's what we're focused on, is creating investment into the province, creating jobs. Costco aligns with that. Now it doesn't align with the original vision perfectly. But again, when we looked at it, this isn't precedent-setting by any means.”
When asked if the GTH would be looking to attract retail properties in the future, Hersche replied “no, we will not be. Emphatically no.”
“We won't be looking at any sort of similar properties. This was just a unique business that had logistics properties, and we won't be looking at further businesses of that kind.”
Hersche added that he hoped to connect with city councillors and city administration soon on the whole subject.
“You know, I think we will get more done if we work collaboratively together. And I think maybe this is a time to have a little bit of a reset on our relationship to make sure we're moving in a positive direction moving forward.”
