A regional group is throwing its support behind Edmonton in a move to get more provincial cash for a new hockey arena.
The Capital Region Board (CRB) voted 17-7 this Thursday in favour of supporting a move by Edmonton to ask for about $25 million from the province to help fund its proposed new hockey arena. The money would come from the Regional Collaboration Program (a provincial fund meant to encourage regional initiatives) over three years.
This was actually a close vote, as board rules require successful motions to have the backing of at least 17 members representing 75 per cent of the region’s population.
The City of Edmonton has been working on a new $480-million hockey arena for years. The plan is now before city council, but it might sink if the city can’t come up with an additional $55 million.
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel made a last-minute move Wednesday afternoon to add his request to the CRB’s agenda.
The provincial budget includes about $141 million over three years for the regional collaboration program, Mandel said to the board. Based on its population, Edmonton should qualify for about 33 per cent of that.
Edmonton planned to ask the province for $25 million over three years from this fund, Mandel said, and wanted the board’s support to do so.
“We’re not looking to take any money away from anybody,” he said, and they weren’t asking board members to chip in cash.
The economic benefit of this arena would affect the entire region, he added. Like a regional LRT, the arena would be used by many people outside of Edmonton. “This isn’t just about us. It’s about all of us working together to try and find ways to make the region more successful.”
Several members, including a seething Bon Accord Mayor Randy Boyd, criticized the motion’s last-minute addition to the agenda. “Be at least respectful to this board,” he told Mandel. Boyd wanted the move delayed for a month to talk it over with his council.
Morinville Mayor Paul Krauskopf said this motion would take a big bite out of the collaboration fund. “There are other municipalities in the area that are in need of new arenas and recreation centres,” he said, and this could take money away from them. “If you build an arena in Morinville, it would have a regional impact in our area.”
(Morinville and Sturgeon County are currently working on a new regional recreation centre.)
County Mayor Don Rigney, who has often butted heads with Edmonton at the board, criticized Edmonton for not collaborating with its neighbours on this issue. Still, he came out in support of the motion, noting that this would not cost his residents anything. “If my neighbour prospers, I prosper.” He’d never put county dollars towards this project, he added in an interview, but these weren’t county dollars.
Spruce Grove Mayor Stuart Houston made an impassioned defence of Edmonton’s motion, and whistled and clapped in celebration when it passed.
This was a “monumental” move for the board, Houston said. “I’ve been on this board for five years, and this is the best thing that could ever have happened.”
The province, politically, can’t come out and directly give Edmonton $50 million for the arena, Houston said, as that would prompt Calgary and every other community to ask for similar grants.
A new arena would mean many spinoff benefits to the region, he continued, particularly to the 30 per cent of arena users that come from outside Edmonton. “It’s going to make the region more sustainable,” Houston said.
“This is going to get Edmonton over a hurdle,” he said during the board meeting, “it’s going to get the province off the hook, and it’s going to actually bring this board together.”
It’s not certain that Edmonton will actually get this money, he noted, and the province had yet to set the rules for the collaboration fund.
Those rules should be out by this summer, said Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths, speaking before the board later in the meeting.
Mandel also had to come up with an additional $30 million for the arena. “We’re dealing with that,” he said, when asked about it.
Board chair and St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse said he was glad that Edmonton wasn’t asking for board members to chip in cash for the arena, noting that he would have been opposed to such a move. “The risk is essentially none.”
A new Edmonton arena would definitely draw more tourists to the region, he continued. “A vibrant downtown has an impact on a region.”
It should be noted that late May 10, there was discussion about whether votes at the CRB had been properly counted.
