The dream of an inland port in Saskatchewan near Regina that would attract investors, mainly Asians, to set up business here has died.
The inland port concept became a buzzword in economic development in the early 2000s.
The notion had two pillars. Overcrowding at seaports on the West Coast of North America could somehow be alleviated by moving goods inland by train.
Someone forgot that ships still have to be unloaded at port.
The second pillar seemed really attractive: entice investors to build assembly plants at inland ports to take advantage of NAFTA free trade regulations.
When Moose Jaw fumbled the ball on building an inland port, Regina ran for a first down. The Global Transportation Hub (GTH) was developed west of Regina by the provincial government.
The 1,800 acre site located in a free trade zone was expected to create thousands of jobs and lure large investments from foreign sources.
Located along the CP mainline, the Trans-Canada Highway with easy access by rail or truck to the United States, the GTH seemed a good sell to business.
The massive foreign investments never came. Loblaws was a major tenant creating hundreds of jobs. About a dozen operations located including some Crown corporations that may have been pressured by politicians to save embarrassment.
Expectations were high. Success wasn’t as instant as expected. Alberta and Manitoba built competing inland ports.
And then there was the scandal: government overpaying for land, millions of quick profits by outside speculators flipping land. The RCMP investigated as did Manitoba Justice, not finding enough evidence to justify charges.
By this time, NAFTA had been re-negotiated with U.S. President Donald Trump declaring NAFTA the worst deal ever made by the U.S.A.
Politicians realized the dream of Chinese investors developing an industrial park was an illusion, if not a nightmare from the scandal.
Souring relations between China and Canada left little hope for a real inland port.
The GTH was nothing more than another industrial park, only burdened by $45 million debt and slow land sales. The Saskatchewan Government sought someone to take the scandal-plagued, debt-ridden operation off its hands and out of the public eye.
Six months later, the Saskatchewan Government announced Colliers International will operate the GTH under supervision of a government-appointed board.
The tarnished inland port concept, now more of a political liability than an asset, was handed off to the private sector
GTH was another good idea that was never executed.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
