The Editor,
Re. "Purchase process was competitive" (The Tri-City News, April 16) and "Burke Mt. land sale 'left $43M on the table': NDP" (April 14).
The NDP said the BC Liberal government sold the Burke Mountain land in a rush below market value.
Wesbild said it paid fair price.
The provincial government said it was the lowest risk, best offer.
So what is really happening here?
It may be useful to step back and look at this from a negotiation's perspective. In any negotiation, it is important for any party not to lay all their cards on the table before the negotiation begins.
In the provincial land sale, there is the seller (the government) who wants to sell lands, has made it publicly known that it is in need of money (to balance its books) and has a tight timeline (before the next budget). The buyer (Wesbild) is interested in buying the land, has tons of cash and is not at all in a rush.
Clearly, government already laid all its cards on the table from the get-go, giving Wesbild the bulk of the negotiating power. In a situation like this, the government could only sell below its appraised value and the question really was how much below the value.
W.O. Leung, Coquitlam
$43M COULD BUY...
The Editor,
It outrages me to learn that our BC Liberal government agreed to sell Crown land on Burke Mountain appraised at $128 million for $85 million. Crown land belongs to the people of British Columbia. Selling our land for a pittance is deplorable.
We the people this land belongs to should have had a say or at least know of what is going on behind the scenes.
The difference of $43 million from this sale could have helped many British Columbians. It would have come in handy to help fund our public transit; public health care; public school system and support for a $10-a-day daycare program.
The projected growth is now for 20,000 more people to inhabit Burke Mountain by 2040. The impact Coquitlam's Burke Mountains development of this land will have on Port Coquitlam is currently unfolding and now this below-market sale.
Why would our premier sell Crown land for less than appraised value when we have so much at stake?
Nancy McCurrach,
Port Coquitlam
