Carpere Canada Not Done With Development
Hundreds of hours have been spent on the development of the South East Industrial Park (SEIP). Hours, depending which side of the argument you are on, have been wasted or well spent.
After over five years since its conceptualization SEIP detractors point out all that has been accomplished is a fire hydrant in the middle of nowhere.
To help understand what has happened at the SEIP MJ Independent submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for all documents held by the City of Moose Jaw from January 2018 until June 8th, 2020.
What we got back was the City held 98,447 documents over that time period and an electronic version would cost $1,800.
Using provisions in access legislation MJ Independent successfully argued for the release of records in the public interest. These stories are based upon those records.
Part Two
By Robert Thomas
On the morning of December 7, 2018 representatives from Carpere Canada and the City of Moose Jaw sat in the Mayor's Conference Room where they would hammer out the details for the biggest land transaction in the history of Moose Jaw.
The evening before there had been a reception in the Grant Hall Hotel's Schwinghamer Library Room.
The Library Room is a private meeting room dominated by a narrow lengthy table with space to accommodate 20 people. The predominantly brown and earthen coloured room features mirrors and eloquent chandeliers.
At the reception Mayor Fraser Tolmie would incur an $1,162.26 food and alcohol expense on his City issued credit card.
According to the itinerary at 9 am the next morning the City and Carpere would get down to business. The meeting was planned to last until noon.
Within the span of three hours a deal which was touted as having the potential to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to Moose Jaw was finalized. Carpere and Moose Jaw had been in discussions for only six months.
The speed of the deal with Carpere in many ways could be likened to two teenagers running away to elope after knowing each other for only a short while.
The need to get the deal done quickly appears in the documents.
In a December 19, 2018 email from Mayor Fraser Tolmie to Carpere Canada's former CEO Yee-Ming Law the Mayor specifically mentions how the City wanted the deal done by Christmas vacation and Carpere wanted it done like “Chinese Fast”.
The relationship between Carpere and the City of Moose Jaw in many ways took on appearances of a runaway affair.
From the initial contacts between the parties in June 2018 to the December deal the emphasis was on getting it done fast - the sooner, the better.
The very essence of the runaway economic courtship was not just the speed the deal was put together but also the players Carpere Canada presented to the City.
High Level China Connection
During the November 27, 2019 special Council meeting a budget measure was passed which would have allowed spending $10,000 to send the Mayor and an unnamed City representative to China to help Carpere market the industrial park.
At the time it was passed Council was told helping to market Carpere's industrial park development was written right into the deal.
One thing Council was not told it was not the first time Mayor Tolmie had been asked to go to China.
During their whirlwind discussions Mayor Tolmie was invited to attend a major international forum by Wang Xiaodong, governor of Hubei Province. (See letter below.)
Held October 19, 2018 the Forum on Global Production Capacity and Business Cooperation was held in Wuhan, China. The forum had 2500 guests from 100 countries attend.
According to a report from the Pakistan based Daily Parliament Times Governor Xiaodong told attendees the forum “would be a new start to jointly promote the development of friendly relations, as well as strengthen pragmatic cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, education in Belt and Road member countries…and win-win development.”
According to the World Bank the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a transcontinental scale. The initiative aims to strengthen infrastructure, trade, and investment links.
In his letter to Governor Xiaodong the Mayor said he was unable to attend the forum due to other commitments.
Mayor Tolmie then proposes to twin Wuhan with Moose Jaw as a sign of cooperation. See addendum at the end of the article.
This spirit of cooperation and working together was mentioned as one of the additional benefits in the briefing notes prior to the December 6 - 7 meeting between Carpere and the City. The City agreed to assist Carpere in its dealings with the Province.
Another sign the City was cooperating with Carpere to facilitate the deal is on November 20, 2019 Mayor Tolmie wrote an introduction letter for Carpere confirming a partnership with the City. (See the letter below.)
Despite their best efforts the deal collapsed in February 2020.
Carpere Still Interested In Moose Jaw??
Although seemingly unlikely Carpere Canada may still be interested in the SEIP or perhaps other lands for a similar project.
In a May 5, 2020 email Carpere's present CEO John Zhang requests a meeting with the Mayor and one other Carpere Canada official.
A week later Mayor Tolmie agrees to the meeting but it will include not only himself but also city manager Jim Puffalt.
The Mayor writes he is “supportive of any economic growth in the community of Moose Jaw.” (See email below.)
The documents do not say where and what Carpere Canada is interested in developing.
In published reports the Moose Jaw Express/Moose Jaw Today have listed Carpere as the purchaser of the Valleyview Centre properties from the Province. The winning bidder on the properties has yet to be officially announced.
Zhang would reply to Mayor Tolmie that Moose Jaw is a special place for Carpere.
Moose Jaw is a community “we (Carpere) believe (Moose Jaw) will be always our community to grow and develop with,” he wrote. (See email below.)
The FOI has no more documents about the May 20, 2020 virtual meeting between Carpere and the City.
It is left as an unknown what Carpere Canada proposed to the City.
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Addendum
Governor Xiaodong is the second most powerful politician in Hubei province.
He has been widely criticized for not allowing early efforts to contain the coronavirus that causes COVID - 19 when it was a localized outbreak.
Media reports from January 2019 claim Governor Xiaodong failed to act when the coronavirus was just breaking out in Wuhan because of political considerations.
“There is evidence, too, that the local authorities kept a lid on the crisis in the first days of January so as not to upset the cheerful tone for a provincial legislative session that is a highlight of the local political cycle,” the New York Times reported on January 26, 2020.
There is no indication in any of the documents that the COVID - 19 pandemic killed Carpere’s deal to develop the industrial park.