After reading the Regina Leader-Post, the new mayor of Regina spoke at our convention this spring. I went up and introduced myself and asked him if he was quoted correctly in the Regina Leader-Post, that he has philosophical issues but that they need the 25%, the $57 million. He said he wasn't misquoted. It was pre-budget. The P3 Canada fund was the only pool of money available.
I said, “Well, okay, design-build-transfer is a P3”. He said, “No. It had to be design-build-finance-operate, and it will transfer to the city in 35 years.” I said I didn't think he had to accept that. He told me he had no choice, that the citizens of Regina expected him to access federal money.
You'll have to ask the mayor of Regina, but he has been told that the only pathway to money is design-build-finance-operate. For the first time in the history of the city of Regina, a piece of the water system will be operated by a private entity, which was not the first choice by that council.