Edmonton reacts to Calgary arena deal

On Tuesday, the provincial government announced they would invest $330 million towards a new arena and district in Calgary. That prompted many Edmontonians to ponder, should the government cut a similar cheque here?

“It’s wonderful that the provincial government has stepped up to help them to build them an arena. But I think there’s an equity in this province that has been historically forgotten and it’s time that got rectified,” said Stephen Mandel, Former Mayor of Edmonton.

It’s a good thing Calgary is receiving provincial money to develop a new arena and entertainment complex, adding that both the Oilers and Flames are major economic drivers with fans coming from across Alberta to watch games.

But as many have pointed out, Edmonton did not receive direct provincial funding for the Ice District. Mandel was mayor of Edmonton during arena negotiations in 2012.

“I remember when we were looking for funding when she (Danielle Smith) was head of the Wildrose party, she stepped up and said, ‘no, no, no. We’re not going to fund any hockey teams.’ The same thing federally. They like to take the high road until it’s convenient for them,” explained Mandel.

Resurfaced audio of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith from 10 years ago has her saying she was “reluctant” to support arenas.

Economist at the Concordia University of Montreal, Moshe Lander, who is an avid Flames fan but suggests Calgary’s arena deal isn’t a wise use of taxpayer dollars.

“I can give you a laundry list of infrastructure projects that the province needs beyond sports,” he explained. “If they think that this is a good investment, it’s not that.”

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Lander believes Alberta’s two biggest cities would benefit more from a new rail line than another arena.

“Build a bullet train connecting Edmonton and Calgary, link up Calgary’s C-train line to the airport, link up Edmonton’s LRT to the airport,” explained Lander.

Alberta Premiere Danielle Smith reiterated on Wednesday that the province wasn’t overlooking Edmonton, adding the UCP would look into investing in stage two of Ice District while helping address the needs of the city’s Boyle Street Services.

“We want to make sure both of our major cities have vibrant, robust downtowns,” said Smith.

But some experts argue that money should go to smaller venues. The reasoning, it would attract unique events to the city while filling longer-term needs.

“Kinsmen down in the River Valley, you know, that was built for the Commonwealth Games. And so they built that because they need pools to host the games and it’s something that the city has been using since and I think people don’t remember that it was built for an event,” said Dan Mason, professor of sport management at the University of Alberta.

However, Mason believes if investments are made specifically for sports in Alberta, municipalities in rural Alberta could benefit more from the money.

“You can always make the case that building venues that can accommodate mass participation is something that’s good for communities.”

Current city councillor Micahel Janz calls Calgary’s arena deal unfair for Albertan tax payers.

“Edmontonians paid 100 per cent of the costs of our arena. There’s no reason why Calgarians couldn’t be asked to do the same. If the province is going to make a contribution, it shouldn’t be to this scale. It’s far too excessive,” said Janz.