Hickie released his economic development plan at the former Sears store in the Gateway Mall. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

civic election

Hickie announces economic development plan

Oct 8, 2020 | 5:01 PM

Mayoral candidate Darryl Hickie promised new measures to attract business and industry to Prince Albert at a press conference Thursday, while also pointing a finger at the current mayor Greg Dionne.

Hickie pledged to create a revamped economic development office, new tax credits, and a “Prince Albert First” policy which would give local businesses a competitive advantage bidding on all city projects. He also said, if elected, he would give away vacant city-owned industrial land for free to companies that want to build there.

Hickie made the announcement inside the shuttered Sears building at the Gateway Mall, standing in front of his campaign vehicle.

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“The massive void of economic activity under this current mayor is so large, you can drive a truck through it,” he said.

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Hickie told reporters he wanted to see the city be more aggressive and proactive about attracting businesses. He explained the expanded and well-resourced economic development office would be given a mandate to “eliminate any and all red tape that impedes new business development.

“We see new exciting ventures starting up in the RMs around Prince Albert,” Hickie said. “Why is it we see no new industry or manufacturing in our city?”

He pointed to Saskatoon-based waste-reprocessing company VDQ-NRG, which he said had approached the City of Prince Albert “numerous times for a meeting and they have never heard back.”

“That’s disappointing to say the least,” he continued, adding that the company could divert large amounts of waste from the city’s landfill.

Another piece of his economic platform would see the finance department instructed to develop new tax credits for businesses that want to increase staffing or hire marginalized or homeless people.

He also wants to offer unused city-owned industrial land, including large swathes around the landfill and the area known as Green Energy Park to any company with a business plan to build infrastructure and provide jobs.

“These are lands that have either stood vacant or underutilized for decades,” said Hickie, explaining that companies would pay up front for the land but then receive that money back once the business was operational.

Taking aim at current leadership, he also questioned the eight per cent levy the city plans to put on businesses in the entertainment district, claiming the City would end up extending it to other businesses.

“The mayor, if he stays in power, is going to have to charge everyone the same levy because that land development up there – no one’s going to want to go there,” he said. “They’d rather come to the Sears building, the Gateway Mall, the vacant spaces on 15th Street, the vacant spaces on Central Avenue.”

Dionne responds

Meanwhile when reached for comment by paNOW, Greg Dionne responded to Hickie’s pick-up truck comment.

“We have a new Peavey Mart under construction, we have the new University of Saskatchewan [campus], we have two new rinks and an aquatic centre that will soon be under construction, a new hospital that’s coming and that’s all economic development,” said Dionne. “So we might need that truck to help me load all the announcements and the good news on economic development.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom