Premier Brad Wall faces barrage of questions about land scandal
Long-time Saskatchewan political columnist Murray Mandryk says ordinarily Premier Brad Wall loves talking to reporters so much that "quite often we can't bloody well get his scrums to end."
Yet during this session of the legislature, Wall has abruptly and uncharacteristically walked away from media scrums when faced with questions about an ongoing controversy that's come to be known as the "GTH land deal."
"It's a relative rarity to see politicians in this province do that," said Mandryk, a columnist with the Regina Leader-Post. "That's not how they're cut and that's certainly not how Brad Wall was cut."
In February, CBC Saskatchewan's iTeam broke the story of a controversial land purchase by the Global Transportation Hub. The GTH is a government-owned transportation and logistics facility on the edge of Regina.
Wall was re-elected a couple months later with an overwhelming majority. For years polls have found Wall to be Canada's most popular premier. He's often registering support in the 60-70 per cent range.
But since that election, his popularity appears to have taken a hit. An October poll indicated Wall was no longer the most popular, and his approval rating was hovering around 50 per cent.
While the reason for the apparent decline is unclear, Mandryk said tumbling resource revenues and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax announcement have made life increasingly difficult for the premier and his government.
But Mandryk said the land deal issue is the "centrepiece of their problems and simply because of the nature of it."
He said every day during this session of the legislature, the opposition NDP has been asking questions about the "suspicions around the GTH and that individuals might have profited from the particular deal."
Mandryk said in its nine years in office, Wall's government has never faced a thorny problem like this.
Premier Brad Wall faces barrage of questions about land scandal - Saskatchewan - CBC News
Long-time Saskatchewan political columnist Murray Mandryk says ordinarily Premier Brad Wall loves talking to reporters so much that "quite often we can't bloody well get his scrums to end."
Yet during this session of the legislature, Wall has abruptly and uncharacteristically walked away from media scrums when faced with questions about an ongoing controversy that's come to be known as the "GTH land deal."
"It's a relative rarity to see politicians in this province do that," said Mandryk, a columnist with the Regina Leader-Post. "That's not how they're cut and that's certainly not how Brad Wall was cut."
In February, CBC Saskatchewan's iTeam broke the story of a controversial land purchase by the Global Transportation Hub. The GTH is a government-owned transportation and logistics facility on the edge of Regina.
Wall was re-elected a couple months later with an overwhelming majority. For years polls have found Wall to be Canada's most popular premier. He's often registering support in the 60-70 per cent range.
But since that election, his popularity appears to have taken a hit. An October poll indicated Wall was no longer the most popular, and his approval rating was hovering around 50 per cent.
While the reason for the apparent decline is unclear, Mandryk said tumbling resource revenues and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax announcement have made life increasingly difficult for the premier and his government.
But Mandryk said the land deal issue is the "centrepiece of their problems and simply because of the nature of it."
He said every day during this session of the legislature, the opposition NDP has been asking questions about the "suspicions around the GTH and that individuals might have profited from the particular deal."
Mandryk said in its nine years in office, Wall's government has never faced a thorny problem like this.
Premier Brad Wall faces barrage of questions about land scandal - Saskatchewan - CBC News
