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Brandt Properties Ltd., is taking the Saskatchewan government to court over the building Brandt had planned to put up with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
CNIB had a building already in Wascana Park that had reached the end of its life and the group was looking to replace it.
It ended up partnering with Brandt so Brandt would build on the land the CNIB had leased, then Brandt would lease a portion of that building back to the CNIB free of charge. The rest of the building would house other tenants.
The project seemed to be proceeding until some in the public got wind of it and there was an uproar from people who didn’t want an office building in the park.
The Provincial Auditor released a report talking about transparency and procedural fairness. The Provincial Capital Commission (PCC), the body in charge of administrating Wascana Park, created a new approval process and put the Brandt/CNIB project at step 23 of 38.
Step 23 determines whether the tenants of the project would be acceptable.
Brandt and the CNIB were also told they needed more public engagement, though both argued at the time they had already done that.
Now, Brandt has filed a statement of claim against the PPC and the provincial government through the minister of central services. The claim alleges the parties caused loss to Brandt for a number of reasons, including interfering with agreements that were already in place, negligence, breaching lease agreements, and the implementation of new conditions around the project.
“Over the course of the Redevelopment, BPL (Brandt) and CNIB have been subject to various forms of political and procedural interference and inaction by PCC, Province, City and Hawkins,” read the statement.
The statement of claim goes through the years-long history of the project, and references several times public statements made by Regina city councillor Bob Hawkins about the project:
“It looks to me like they’re prepared to go beyond or ignore the Wascana Centre Authority objective, which is wrong, which shouldn’t be allowed, which threatens the park,” the statement quoted Hawkins.
Hawkins isn’t a defendant in the suit, but the company claims the PCC is liable for the statement and actions of its board of directors, which includes Hawkins.
The claims made in Brandt’s court filing have not been proved in court.
Don McMorris is the minister responsible for the Provincial Capital Commission.
“It had the green light to continue on, Brandt decided to move in this direction and because it’s before the courts we’ll just leave it at that,” said McMorris.
As for the future of the project, McMorris said it would be up to Brandt.
“Could Brandt continue on with the lawsuit and continue on with the project? I guess they could. I think it would be highly unusual,” said McMorris.
The minister also didn’t comment on why the project had been stuck at step 23 of the approval process for two years.
About the situation, the CNIB would only say the project has always been about the community and its goal was to create an accessible building and make the park more inclusive and accessible.
In a statement, it said this has left it in the same place it was nine years ago, “seeking a new affordable and accessible space to serve our community.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story. The new building wasn’t to contain Brandt offices.