A trip by municipal officials to Vancouver in 2018 to meet representatives with Carpere Canada about the latter purchasing land in Moose Jaw proved fruitful, documents show.
Based on city hall emails that the Moose Jaw Express obtained through a freedom of information request, the newspaper is exploring the business relationship between Carpere Canada and the City of Moose Jaw in a three-part series.
This story is part two of three. Read part one.
Vancouver trip
In a series of emails with the subject line, “About Vancomycin Trip,” Terry Tian, director of development for Carpere Canada, wrote to Jim Dixon, economic development manager, on Oct. 15 and 16, 2018 saying it was great to meet him, Mayor Fraser Tolmie, and an unnamed individual during a meeting in Moose Jaw.
Tian wanted to speak with Dixon about the latter’s trip to Vancouver and wondered if they could meet. Dixon replied that Oct. 16 would work. Dixon also said that Tolmie was unavailable from Nov. 8 to 10, but was available Nov. 22 to 24 for another meeting.
Dixon wrote to the unnamed individual on Oct. 16, saying city hall was working closely with a Chinese investment group “on some exciting projects” on agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. Tian was interested in meeting this unnamed individual, especially after the person and Dixon spoke about partnerships with the Chinese group.
They eventually scheduled a meeting for Oct. 30.
On Nov. 5, Tian wrote to Dixon saying he had contacted an unnamed businessman in Vancouver, who indicated a meeting could occur anytime from Nov. 19 to 30. Besides wanting to know Tolmie’s schedule, Tian also needed eight items for an unnamed project. City hall redacted those eight items in the email since they were considered third-party information.
Three days later, Dixon replied that he, the mayor, and city manager Jim Puffalt could fly to Vancouver on Nov. 21 and meet with the unnamed businessman a day later, and then return on Nov. 23. Dixon asked Tian to provide an office location for the meeting and a hotel near the office.
Initial offer for land deal
On Nov. 15, Dixon emailed a document with background information of Tian’s investment group to the mayor, city manager, and Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development. That document also included the initial offer for an agreement in the industrial park.
Dixon was still arranging the Vancouver trip a day later, as he emailed Puffalt to say he had spoken with the Vancouver businessman, with the latter thinking it “fantastic” that Moose Jaw officials would visit him in Vancouver.
“He will give us a tour and then would like to have supper with us. The mayor is aware and thought this would be a great opportunity to meet with (redacted),” added Dixon.
A flurry of emails from Nov. 26 and 29, 2018 dealt with Carpere’s requirements for its proposed project and a sample land sale agreement.
Katelyn Soltys, assistant city solicitor, produced a sample land sale agreement for the proposed project. However, she indicated she did not include specifics since she was unsure of the number of acres involved, the price, infrastructure requirements, or development. However, she thought this would help Carpere understand what purchase and servicing agreements looked like in Moose Jaw.
“Also, please note that Carpere Canada Investment Group is not registered in Saskatchewan,” she added, “thus, the highlighted section in the parties’ portion of the document is to indicate we will need to know how they are registered once in negotiations.”
Carpere comes to Moose Jaw
Puffalt emailed Dixon on Nov. 23 saying the trip to Vancouver had been successful and Carpere Canada wanted to buy about 700 acres in the industrial park. The company wanted to have a deal done soon.
In a heavily redacted email, Dixon informed Puffalt on Nov. 28 that Tian’s investment group would be in Moose Jaw on Dec. 6 and 7 for a meeting. Tian’s group was expecting an agreement and was anxious to sign; the group would be encouraged to tour the Tunnels and have either lunch or supper with municipal officials.
Dixon later informed Tian that city hall needed Carpere’s Saskatchewan incorporation name/number and ID number for the project to proceed. Tian provided the company’s registered British Columbia number and wondered if that was acceptable. Dixon replied Carpere would have to acquire a Saskatchewan number.
On Nov. 29, the city manager emailed Carpere Canada representative Yee-Ming — whose last name was redacted — with a sample purchase and servicing agreement. Yee-Ming replied that Carpere would have its lawyer review the document and then respond by Dec. 6, when the investment group was in Moose Jaw.
More will be revealed in part three.
