VANCOUVER AND CALGARY

BRENDA BOUW AND CARRIE TAIT
RTGAM



VANCOUVER AND CALGARY - Bill Doyle is once again paying property taxes in Saskatoon as part of a pledge Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. made to the province when it fought a hostile takeover from mining behemoth BHP Billiton Ltd.

The Potash Corp. chief executive officer's return to the Prairie city where his company is headquartered comes amid pressure from Premier Brad Wall's government for the miner to contribute more to the provincial economy.

Mr. Wall's aggressive campaign against BHP's $38.6-billion (U.S.) hostile bid for the company, which he called a strategic Canadian asset, helped persuade Ottawa to block the deal. But in coming to Potash Corp.'s defence, the Premier also extracted concessions. Since the deal's collapse last November, the province has been lobbying Potash Corp. to move its executives back to Saskatoon from Chicago, where Mr. Doyle, 60, was born and has spent much of his life.

On Monday, Potash Corp. said 11 of its 14 senior executives will be living in Saskatoon by the end of March, including Mr. Doyle who purchased a property in the city in recent weeks. He previously rented a property, and spends about two-thirds of his time on the road.

"Bill Doyle has a residence here and it's fair to say he will spend more time here," Potash Corp. spokesman Bill Johnson said Monday. "This is a company meeting the pledge in a very substantial way."

Potash Corp.'s promises were tied to creating new jobs and moving existing executive postings to Saskatoon. The head office currently houses six senior executives. Potash said it will have 300 people working in the head office by the end of 2013, up from 209 at the end of 2010.

In its mines, the company plans to hire 512 people, bringing its head count to 2,528 by the end of 2015. Potash ended last year with 2,016 mine employees.

Potash Corp. also reiterated plans to spend $5.7-billion expanding its mines, including a $2.8-billion expansion at Roncanville, which will employ 1,200 people during construction, the government said.

The mining giant also made an "ongoing commitment" to Canpotex Ltd., which markets potash produced by Potash Corp., Mosaic Co. and Agrium Inc., the Saskatchewan government said in a release. BHP drew Mr. Wall's ire when it mused about dismantling the cartel, which keeps Saskatchewan's coffers flush with potash royalties.

Potash Corp. said it will increase donations to charity and community groups to 1 per cent of before-tax income, support Saskatchewan companies by purchasing locally, and hire and train more native people.

"We understand the strong and mutually beneficial role that our company plays in the province, and we will always seek to do what is right for the people of Saskatchewan and the company's stakeholders," Mr. Doyle said in the prepared text of a speech to the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce Monday.

Chamber executive director Kent Smith-Windsor called the increased jobs "remarkable. The economic power of the fertilizer industry is just starting to be felt here."

"We have a unique feature of geography that allows Saskatoon and Saskatchewan to be a very optimistic place today because potash is required to help people feed themselves."

Mr. Doyle once lived in a 6,000-square-foot home he had built on the south bank of the South Saskatchewan River where he lived with his wife and three children. They moved back to a Chicago suburb after Kathy Doyle felt the local school system could not meet her family's needs. Mr. Doyle, a fixture in Chicago business life, is keeping his residence in that city for the time being.