The City of Moose Jaw heralded the agreement with Carpere Canada as the largest land deal in city history, but the relationship lasted all of 19 months before the company quit the project.
The Moose Jaw Express submitted a freedom of information (FOI) request to city hall recently that asked for all material around Carpere Canada. City hall later emailed a 146-page PDF with the requested material. However, officials had redacted — or removed — large amounts of information, using The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LA FOIP) to keep the material private.
For pages that had information removed — most had some content, while others were completely blank — officials wrote in the LA FOIP section number to explain the erasure. The five sections most cited were 16 (advice from officials), 17 (economic and other interests), 18 (third-party information), 21 (solicitor-client privilege), and 28 (disclosure of personal information).
The Express has summarized the documents and presents a partial — but incomplete — look at the once-promising business partnership between the Chinese company and Saskatchewan municipality.
This article is the first of three in the series.
In the beginning
Jim Dixon, economic development officer for Moose Jaw, began communicating seriously with Terry Tian, director of business development for Carpere Canada, in the summer of 2018, according to emails from July 30 to Aug. 1, 2018.
“It was great to meet with all of your group today, Terry. As indicated, we look forward to a great partnership with you and will do al we can to help facilitate this initial project coming to fruition and future projects down the road,” Dixon wrote.
In his email, Dixon attached information about the sewer and water utility rates for SaskPower, SaskEnergy and Moose Jaw. Dixon also promised to provide an electronic copy of the proposal once he had updated it.
Tian thanked Dixon for his reply and wondered if Dixon could send the confidential agreement before their next meeting. Attaching an overview of the Southeast Industrial Park to an email, Dixon indicated city hall could provide a complete package once it knew all of Carpere’s project needs. He also planned to send Tian a package of provincial incentives that Carpere could access.
Tian promised to take the park overview to his people, while he again asked for the confidentiality agreement so he could sign it and then submit Carpere’s official request. He also wanted clarification on what the development and permit fees were. Dixon explained the permit fee was the building permit for when the company developed the property.
“As for the development levies, we would build these into the price of the land that we determine works for all of us,” added Dixon.
Preparing the documents
In a second set of emails from Aug. 17, Sept. 21, and Sept. 25, 2018, Dixon emailed Tian saying city hall was preparing a concept plan and design. He hoped to have that document back so “that (the) valuable information” in it could be included in city hall’s response to Carpere’s proposal.
Tian told Dixon on Sept. 25 that he had received an inquiry from a Vancouver businessman — whose identity was removed — about progress happening in the industrial park. Tian planned to send city hall’s response about the concept plan and design to the man. The businessman had also asked about an election and if the mayor would be re-elected, since the businessman “may be worried about the continuity of policy.”
Dixon replied that there was no municipal election occurring in 2018, only a byelection to fill a vacant council seat.
“The mayor’s term does not end for another two years. So good stability and support there,” Dixon added.
A meeting with the mayor
Dixon wrote to someone on Oct. 5, saying a Chinese investment group was looking at opportunities in Moose Jaw. The group was pursuing a major industrial project, but was also “very interested” in something — land, perhaps? — that the unnamed email recipient possessed. The group also wanted a tour of the unnamed individual’s property for Oct. 10; Dixon suggested Tian contact that individual’s real estate agent for the tour.
Tian emailed Dixon on Oct. 7 saying while the unnamed businessman and a group “plan to come over,” the businessman wanted to meet with Dixon earlier. The businessman would cancel his original plans and come to Moose Jaw first if Dixon could meet on Oct. 9. No followup email indicates whether Dixon met with the businessman.
However, in a redacted email on Oct. 9, Dixon wrote to someone saying Tian, the businessman man, and their investment group would meet city officials on Oct. 10. Another redacted email on Oct. 10 indicated Mayor Fraser Tolmie would meet the businessman, while Dixon would briefly join the meeting before leaving for Calgary.
More will be revealed in parts two and three.
