Letter to the Editor: Honoring Brad Wall—A Betrayal of Saskatchewan Taxpayers

- By Nestor Mryglod

October 17, 2025

key points from this story:

• CTF awarded Brad Wall a TaxFighter Award
• Critics cite the $2 Billion Regina Bypass scandal
• Project accused of political manipulation and favoritism
• Local businesses and landowners suffered major losses
• Calls for public inquiry and forensic audit persist
• Critics question CTF’s credibility and accountability

How could an organization that claims to stand for transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility celebrate the very architect of the $2 Billion Dollars Regina Bypass scandal—one of the most wasteful infrastructure debacles in provincial history?

We were astounded to learn that former Premier Brad Wall had been awarded Saskatchewan's Order of Merit, a prestigious recognition of outstanding contributions in various fields in 2024, and now the “TaxFighter Award.” Which is described by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation as being given to “Canadians who have made an outstanding contribution to the cause of taxpayer emancipation.” The CTF’s listing also mentions that past recipients include “lawmakers, media personalities, academics, and average citizens who have stood out and stood up in fighting for limited and accountable government.”

Under Brad Wall’s leadership, the TransCanada Highway No. 1, Regina Bypass became a textbook case of political manipulation and backroom land deals. What began as a project to improve safety and traffic flow turned into a goldmine for well-connected developers and a nightmare for taxpayers. Landowners were strong-armed, expropriated, or ignored. Companies like Super Seamless of Canada, which were in the process of building a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that would have created hundreds of jobs locally and thousands of jobs nationally and internationally, were effectively destroyed when the Bypass route was suddenly and inexplicably shifted 400 meters east of Tower Road—right through their planned expansion.

That “shift” wasn’t about traffic engineering or public need; it was about who owned the land. The decision enriched a handful of insiders while wiping out legitimate businesses and derailing local economic growth. The $2 Billion Dollars Question is: Why did the Saskatchewan Government approve building an outdated, dysfunctional, developer-preferred, expensive, $2 Billion Dollars, politically driven, Dead-end Regina Bypass in City Limits that cannot take the truck traffic to the Commercial Industrial Business District in North Regina? Why are people losing their land, homes, businesses, ballparks, health, history, and future—all so a $2 Billion Dollars megaproject could be quietly rerouted to benefit a select group of politically connected developers. At the same time, those without influence were left to bear the cost in silence.

The Regina Bypass Project, a colossal $2 Billion Dollar initiative, has been mired in controversy since its inception. Evidence suggests that former Premier Brad Wall played a central role in orchestrating the scandal, presiding over a project that epitomizes waste, secrecy, and misplaced priorities. At the core of this scandal lies a contract awarded to Vinci, a French multinational corporation deeply entangled in European corruption cases, including money laundering, bribery, and human rights violations. Instead of supporting Saskatchewan-based companies with proven local expertise, the Wall government handed this massive public project to a foreign consortium under the guise of a “public-private partnership.”

The results were disastrous. The contract’s cost exploded by more than 500% — ballooning from an initial $400 Million Dollars to over $2 Billion Dollars. And for what? Forty kilometers of four-lane highway, built on flat prairie terrain, with a handful of overpasses and interchanges — none of which required the technical complexity or environmental challenges faced by other Canadian infrastructure projects.

The most astounding comparison is with British Columbia’s Coquihalla Highway. Constructed between the 1980s and early 1990s, the Coquihalla stretches 325 kilometers through rugged, mountainous terrain, incorporating 38 bridges, 319 underpasses, eight avalanche dams, and a massive snowshed — all completed for just $855 Million Dollars. Even after adjusting for inflation, the Coquihalla’s total cost today would still be less than the Regina Bypass, which traverses open prairie.

This glaring disparity is not just a statistical curiosity — it’s evidence of gross mismanagement, political interference, and potential financial misconduct. Taxpayers were told this project was about “safety and efficiency,” yet the facts reveal it was about contracts, connections, and control.

The Regina Bypass did not represent progress — it represented the triumph of patronage over prudence. Saskatchewan taxpayers didn’t get value for their money; they got a monument to government waste and foreign favoritism. For over a decade, citizens, the Regina Committee for an alternative Bypass Solution, “Why Tower Road” journalists, and independent investigators have called for a Judicial Public Inquiry and a Forensic Audit into the Regina Bypass and related land deals. The Wall government and its successors refused every time. The result? Billions in taxpayer dollars vanished into contracts, subsidiaries, and shell corporations—while Saskatchewan families are told there’s no money for schools, healthcare, or seniors’ care.

So, when the CTF—a group that brands itself as the voice of ordinary taxpayers—announces that it will hand an award to the man responsible for this fiscal tragedy, it is not just ironic; it is offensive. It makes a mockery of the very taxpayers the organization claims to defend.

True “Taxfighters” are the Regina Bypass Committee For An Alternative Bypass Solution. “ Why Tower Road”: Taxpayers, farmers, Landowners, and small-business owners who stood up to government Interference, bullying, corruption, and bureaucratic stonewalling. They are the people who demanded accountability and Transparency, not applause for those who squandered public trust.

If the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) truly wishes to honor integrity in public finance, it should begin by revisiting the facts buried beneath Billions of Dollars in legal spin, NDAs, and silence surrounding the $2 Billion Dollar Regina Bypass Scandal — a scandal that has revealed government influence, conflict of interest, and political interference at every level of Saskatchewan’s public institutions.

The failures of the Provincial Auditor, Law enforcement, the Justice System, and even the Opposition NDP Party to act decisively have only deepened public cynicism. The system meant to protect taxpayers has instead shielded those who misused their trust.

After providing this evidence directly to the CTF, I received a letter from its CEO that did not promise to review the facts or investigate; instead, it refused my attendance at their TaxFighter Awards ceremony. That response speaks volumes. It tells every taxpayer in this country that the Federation, once built to expose waste, now prefers to ignore it when it involves political friends. Awards should be earned through accountability and transparency, not through political convenience or selective blindness.

If the CTF truly wishes to defend taxpayers, it should call for a full Public Inquiry and Forensic Audit, and Criminal Investigation into the Regina Bypass Scandal, not celebrate its architect. Taxpayers deserve truth, not theatre. Because when watchdogs stop barking, corruption thrives in silence.

For more information, contact:

Nestor Mryglod
FB: ShowMeYourRegina
Web: highwayrobbery.org
Phone: 3067218000
Email: nlmryglod@gmail.com