When the newly minted Saskatchewan Party simply referred to it as “intermodal facility” or “inland port,” the GTH was to be Premier Brad Wall’s shiny seal of approval for his new Saskatchewan. And the buy-in was enormous.



“The most significant project ever seen in southern Saskatchewan is the Regina Inland Port and multi-modal facility,” gushed Regina mayor Pat Fiacco in December 2008, at what was then known as the Canadian Pacific Railway’s intermodal facility.

The former Regina mayor was certainly one to gush, but one could hardly fault his enthusiasm. Getting CP’s container yard out of the middle of the city was — and still is — a very big deal.

Redeveloping those 20 acres of CP land would “tie in perfectly with the revitalization of downtown” said Fiacco, citing back in 2008 not only the possibility of a $500-million permanent domed football stadium (perhaps on the CP site), but also how getting the CP yards out of the Regina downtown was a perfect fit with the new Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) head office and bus terminal. Uh huh.

And an inland port where the CPR mainline, Soo Line, the Trans-Canada Highway and Highways 6 and 11 meet made sense for the whole province. It seemed to make even more sense in July 2008, when Loblaw Companies announced its GTH plans for a $350-million, one-million-square-foot distribution facility that would employ 750 people by 2010 and 1,500 by now.

“It’s a game-changer for us,” said Wall at the 2011 CP intermodal/GTH sod-turning announcement, calling the GTH “one of the most important economic development projects for, I think, generations.” Saskatchewanians should ready themselves for more good-news announcements at the GTH, Wall said.