You have to admire Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall for his boldness.
It’s one thing to give ultimatums to the federal government when the issue is preserving the province’s potash industry. (Newfoundland and Labrador’s Danny Williams famously ordered Canadian flags removed from provincial offices when he wanted to make sure the feds would get his point.) But suggesting to the federal finance minister that it’s time to “fish or cut bait” about designating tax dollars for a new sports stadium for Regina is something else again.
Federal ministers have long memories. Try to bully them and there are consequences.
But Wall pushed Jim Flaherty into a corner this week, saying if Ottawa delays longer on a decision to throw serious money into a downtown sports stadium, the project could be lost.
Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco delivered the punch line: “I think there’s the possibility of a federal election coming up and I think that the federal politicians in this city that are on the government side want to make sure that nothing sticks to them in regards of this not being built.”
In Saskatchewan, which has the most fanatic Canadian Football League fans in Canada, that translates into: “Or else.”
Here’s another: Over the weekend, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters that if Edmonton doesn’t get its new hockey stadium underway soon, he could see the city losing the Oilers when the team’s lease on aging Rexall Place expires in 2014. The subtext: Lose it, say, to Quebec City.
Of course, Quebec City is where the federal government just can’t seem to stop itself from funding an NHL-quality arena, even though there’s no NHL team to put in it. Even though doing so goes against its own regulations. Even though both Flaherty and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are ideologically opposed to spending tax money on professional sports.
In Alberta’s case, the “or else” also applies to the province, which is likewise ideologically opposed to spending tax dollars on pro sports. Except Alberta tax dollars will be used via equalization payments to finance Quebec’s project. Perhaps to relocate our team there. Consequences, anyone?
You can see why both Flaherty and Harper would like to slow down. Neither wants to put hundreds of millions into an empty hockey rink in Quebec City when there really aren’t a whole lot of votes to buy there. Not when vote-rich territories in the West could justifiably demand the same — or else.
Not when the P3 Canada Fund — the supposed source of all this largesse — specifically excludes funding professional sports venues.
Promoters in Quebec City are promoting their new stadium as a multi-purpose economic hub for the city.
But the spinoffs there pale in importance to the impact of a domed stadium in downtown Regina. Right now, the city has a huge hole in its heart, where the CPR railyard used to be. Relocating its beloved Roughriders from cold, uncomfortable and small Mosaic Stadium into a covered stadium in a totally rebuilt downtown area is like the city reinventing itself.
The change in (taxable) land values in the whole region and near environs would measure in billions.
Likewise Edmonton, once it closes down its municipal airport and develops that inner-city space with skyscrapers and tens of thousands of new residents — plus putting a professional sports arena in the same general part of town.
To do these things will require huge investments, some of which will hinge on federal support, because of all governments, the feds have the most.
But there are limits, right? So it will take some courage to make sure Harper doesn’t end up throwing all of it into Quebec — by reminding him of the consequences.
We need that kind of pluck in Alberta.
Greg Neiman is an Advocate editor.