Premier challenges feds on infrastructure money, calls out Goodale

Saskatchewan’s premier tossed the ball into the federal government’s court and threw a couple jabs at federal ministers on Tuesday when talking about infrastructure money.

Scott Moe seemed frustrated over the Integrated Bilateral Agreement (IBA) with the federal government.

On Monday, the federal minister for infrastructure and communities announced in a letter posted to Twitter that several of Saskatchewan’s requests through the IBA were approved.

A plan for improvements to an arena for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders was not approved, according to the letter, because the Raiders are a semi-professional team.

Thirteen of 25 applications were approved, and while some were listed in the letter — projects involving the Globe Theatre, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, the Gordie Howe Bowl, the Thunderchild Wellness Centre, and the Southend Community Ice Rink — Moe said the government is trying to find out what the other approved projects are.

In the meantime, Moe said the province is going to move forward “in good faith” on its portion of the funding for Regina’s Globe Theatre and Saskatoon’s Gordie Howe Sports Complex and Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan.

“(It’s) in good faith that the federal government actually is going to allow for the transfer of those funds from the (infrastructure) fund into the CCR (Community Culture and Recreation) fund at some point in time,” Moe said at Government House.

“These are important projects, not only to the people of Saskatoon and Regina, but I would say are important projects to people across the province.”

But besides those, Moe said the province won’t be moving forward with any other projects under the CCR program unless the province’s request is met.

In addition to the infrastructure application, the province also requested to move some of the money from the pot of money allocated to transit to the pot of money allocated to community culture and recreation.

In his letter, federal Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne said the government did not approve that request.

“I fully appreciate the desire of Saskatchewan to replenish the available funding stream for Community Culture and Recreation,” read the letter addressed to Saskatchewan’s ministers Warren Kaeding and Gord Wyant.

“Under our existing IBA, we will be in a position to review requests from the Province to move resources from the Transit Stream, into the Community Culture and Recreation stream on the agreement’s third anniversary.”

The minister also wrote that the federal funding for the community culture and recreation projects can accommodate all of the eligible applications.

Unhappy with that decision, Moe said the province won’t be moving forward with any other applications under the CCR program until the federal government agrees to transfer the funds between the two pots.

Also in the letter, the federal minister mentioned a project involving two swimming pools in Regina which wasn’t actually put forward to the IBA by the province, a project “for which the City of Regina has long advocated.” He encouraged the province to forward that application so his officials can review it.

Moe found that addition suspect as the pools fall within Liberal MP Ralph Goodale’s federal riding.

“I find it odd of the 400 applications that were not put forward — the 400 applications that were put forward by communities but not put forward by the provincial government to the federal government for approval — that the federal minister singled this one project out as a project that we should be applying for,” said Moe.

He said the fund is there so the province can move forward with its priorities, adding: “This is not Ralph Goodale’s re-election fund.”

Goodale responded on Twitter.

For the record, 2 municipal swimming pools in Regina were selected as infrastructure priorities, not by me, but by City Council. I'm happy to support these projects. Why would provincial government MLAs in Regina block them?

— Ralph Goodale (@RalphGoodale) August 13, 2019

Saskatchewan projects ready to go

The Globe Theatre, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan and the Gordie Howe Sports Complex have projects ready to go, but were caught in the middle of the dispute between the levels of government.

“We have done a lot of work on the project, obviously the designs are there and everything, so it’s just a matter of getting out to tender,” said Alan Long, director of marketing for Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan.

He said his organization already is talking with the province and working on final details.

The money will go towards a big site upgrade for the festival, which will include a permanent facility with an amphitheatre on the riverbank, a permanent box office and a bar with a riverside patio.

The site is currently set up on a gravel pad that needs to be built from the ground up every spring for the summer shows.

“We will be able to extend our season because we won’t have to spend all our time on construction and clean up at the end of the year,” said Long.

— With files from 650 CKOM