RCMP has 'extensive' interview with Brad Wall on GTH land deal

Premier Brad Wall has revealed he went through a "very thorough" interview with the RCMPin connection withthe Global Transportation Hub land deal.

He told reporters Wednesday about his meetingwith policeearlier in the summer. He did not have a lawyer present for the interview, he said.

"I would say it was extensive," Wall said.

The interview was related to an investigation into a series of land transactions that ended with the government buying a parcel of land for an interchange atthe Global Transportation Hub, west of Regina.

The province bought 204 acres of land for a price of about $21 million.

The provincial auditor found the government overpaid for the parcel of land. Now, the RCMP is doing itsown investigation.

Wall would not disclose where the interviewwith the RCMP took place, but said it wasn't at the Legislative Building.

Wall talks next steps

He said that once the RCMP is done itswork, the province could "take the next step, if there is to be one."

The next step might mean government officials taking questions under oath at committee, he said, something he was opposed to in the past.

"I will rule nothing out because I also want the public to have much more confidence about what happened here than they do and I know they have a lot of questions," Wall said. "I want all of the answers on the table to the satisfaction of the people whom I serve, whom we all serve."

"But we're going to let the RCMP do their work."

Raw video: Premier at centre of lively media scrum

7 years ago

Duration 2:49

Premier Brad Wall talked about the GTH deal and other matters on Sept. 6, 2017.

When asked about whether he would launch a public inquiry now, Wallsaid the Ministry of Justice has advised the province not to start a public inquiry while the RCMP is investigating.

Wall said he was told by others that Lori Pushor, senior advisor to former Minister of Economy Bill Boyd, believed that the ministry would have to pay more than some appraisals suggested the land was worth in order to buy the property.

He said the provincial government didn't want to pay more, but felt it had to in order to strike the deal.

"All I know is that the final price came in lower than we authorized and we're selling the land for much, much, much more," Wall said.

Anthony Marquart, a Regina-based businessman, made $5 million from the GTH's purchase of the land.

Confused about the GTH land deal? Here's a short explainer video

8 years ago

Duration 8:39

In 2015, CBC Saskatchewan's iTeam started looking into a transaction between the Global Transportation Hub and a Regina developer. This video is a summary of what CBC has learned since then.