Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili pledged Friday, that if elected Premier, he would take steps to increase government transparency.
Meili says that one of his priorities is to find out exactly what happened in the Global Transportation Hub controversy.
“A New Democrat government will call a public inquiry into the GTH and the Regina Bypass scandals, and finally get to the bottom of what happened here,” said Meili. “We will introduce stronger conflict of interest regulations for MLAs, we’ll close the lobbyist registry loophole and require all lobbying to made public.”
The GTH has been surrounded in controversy since the province acquired the land, with many believing the government paid more than retail price to benefit their partners.
Meili says this shows the corruption of the Sask. Party.
“In the GTH land deal, we saw the Sask. Party donors make millions of dollars in a backroom deal, meanwhile the people of Saskatchewan paid more than 5 times the estimated price for the land,” said Meili. “We saw the Regina Bypass, a $2 billion project, price that ballooned, with the contract going to a company from France, as those Saskatchewan workers and companies couldn’t build a road around town.”
Meili says by finding out the truth behind the GTH, it will encourage more businesses to invest there.
“If this project is ever going to succeed, we see it bleeding money and growing debt, if we’re ever going to see any success, any investor confidence, we have to get to the bottom of what’s going on and clear the air,” said Meili. “Right now, who would want to touch this GTH and try to invest out here when there’s still this cloud of corruption around it.”
