Island escapes CBC cuts

CHARLOTTETOWN — It appears plans for APM to purchase the old Kays Building on Queen Street have fallen apart.

It was reported earlier APM was in talks to purchase the heritage property.

However, Tim Banks, CEO of APM, is now saying the project will not move forward and he blames the provincial government and the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (CADC).

“For the record, I am disappointed that the government of Prince Edward Island was not interested in working with APM in the redevelopment of the Kays Building,’’ Banks says.

“This project would have seen a significant investment in downtown Charlottetown and the creation of 40 new jobs by the private sector.’’

APM had entered into a purchase and sale agreement with CADC, owners of the building. Banks says CADC rejected it and he’s not sure why.

“CADC didn’t even have the courtesy to explain to us what specific conditions were unacceptable in our binding agreement but rather turned it down with a demand that we forfeit our deposit, which I might add they had no right to do.’’

TC Media spoke with Ron Waite, general manager of CADC, on Wednesday but Waite declined to comment, saying “that we don’t negotiate contracts in the media’’.

Before APM came into the picture, Charlottetown businessman Danny Murphy was looking into buying the building. Murphy said the building was beyond repair and applied to the City of Charlottetown to demolish it.

The city deferred a vote on knocking the structure down while an engineering assessment was carried out. That assessment said the building is still structurally sound.

Murphy eventually stepped aside and APM entered the picture.

CADC, the province and the federal government had already earmarked $1 million towards restoring and redeveloping the property. APM was looking for that money since the cost to stabilize the heritage-only component is $1.6 million.

“Our offer called on CADC to act as an agent in helping us secure a reasonable parking agreement with the city,’’ Banks said.

“If CADC’S mandate does not include acting as a liaison with developers for these types of agreements then please excuse me for being under the impression that it does as it’s been my experience in other jurisdictions that these are traditionally the mandates of Crown agencies such as CADC.’’

Banks said APM’S capital investment into restoring the building would have amounted to $6 million with the company chipping in $1.5 million of its own money and the balance coming from a government loan.

“Our binding agreement would have paid CADC the full value of their original purchase price and all other terms and conditions had been previously agreed on by all parties.

“We can only conclude that government is sending mixed signals to the development community with ( Finance Minister Wes) Sheridan calling for new private sector growth and CADC rejecting private sector initiatives.

“APM has a significant track record of developing properties and employing Islanders and it’s disappointing that we are driven to do this elsewhere.’’ CBC staff in Prince Edward Island appears to have steered clear of a massive chopping block.

There are no projected cuts coming to Radio Canada or CBC English Services in the province, says Gerry Whelan, staff representative for the Canadian Media Guild Atlantic.

However, Whelan says some CBC staff working in radio or television on P.E.I. may still get bumped out of their job by employees outside the province that get their pink slips.

“It can happen at any time,’’ he added of the bumping procedure.

Whelan cautions that cuts could still come to CBC operations in the province down the road as they have in recent years.

The public broadcaster expects to lay off more than 650 people over the next three years, with the majority let go this year.

Tough decisions about how to manage a $225-million shortfall will include shaving six existing or planned shows from CBC’S TV lineup, programming boss Kirstine Stewart said Tuesday.

“We are making those decisions next week and we’ve got some pretty strong criteria to make those decisions,’’ Stewart said after CBC staff were briefed on job and program cuts in an internal meeting.

“But in the end what we’re trying to do is protect the programming that Canadians seem to be most interested in and it will really narrow down the variety of programming that we’ve been able to give Canadians over the last few years.’’