Indicating that the proposed Brandt project in the park should not be allowed to go forward, the Saskatchewan NDP is calling on the Saskatchewan government and Provincial Capital Commission to commit to the following steps to ensure the integrity of developments in Wascana Park, including the future home for CNIB:

• Amend the legislation to re-establish the previous Wascana Centre board structure in order to ensure equal decision-making power for the province, the city, and the university.
• Full, meaningful public consultations on the design of the future home of CNIB.
• Full transparency on PCC board discussions of the proposed CNIB/Brandt project, including the release of meeting minutes previously refused to the NDP.

“The Sask. Party is doubling down on a failed model to ram through a project that only benefits the wealthy and well-connected” said NDP Deputy Leader and Provincial Capital Commission Critic Nicole Sarauer. “We need to be clear that this flawed project can’t go ahead in its current form. None of the Auditor’s concerns have been addressed, and now they’re trying to rush through an approval before her report can be scrutinized.”

Seeking transparency, the NDP submitted an FOI requesting meeting minutes from each meeting of the PCC board where the CNIB building or the CNIB/Brandt proposal were considered since January 1, 2013, but the request was refused.

Sarauer underscored the Sask. Party needs to re-establish the previous Wascana Centre board structure and must give members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts the opportunity to scrutinize the Auditor’s report before anything moves forward. The Public Accounts Committee will meet to consider the Auditor’s Report on February 26.

“Anyone who looks at the process that led to this point would conclude that it’s seriously shady,” Sarauer said. “To reward that mess with a rubber stamp and a go-ahead for an office tower in a public park for one of the Sask. Party’s biggest donors is letting down the people of this province.”