Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/5/2011 (3653 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Premier Greg Selinger spoke out today on the latest bid to bring an NHL team back to Winnipeg, confirming the province is willing to lend a hand to get it done.
But as reported in today’s Free Press, that doesn’t include funding to cover team losses.
Selinger told radio station CJOB this morning the provincial government wouldn’t consider "anything like that."
He was vague on what kind of support it would be willing to provide, saying only that "if there are other constructive roles we can play, we will look at it."
Sources told the Free Press on Tuesday that True North Sports and Entertainment’s bid to buy the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg is banking on some kind of financial aid from the province.
But True North, which owns the MTS Centre, is looking for help to manage the debt load it carries on the arena, the sources said, in order to free up money to help cover the costs of relocating an NHL team to the city.
Selinger said the government is working closely with True North Chairman Mark Chipman, and that Chipman is taking a "prudent" approach to acquiring an NHL team.
"And we certainly support True North in doing their job and their due diligence," he added.
He also reiterated that he believes Manitoba can support an NHL team, saying the economy is strong and family incomes have grown dramatically since the former Winnipeg Jets left town in the mid-1990s.
"We’re in much better shape than we were in the nineties."
He also noted the NDP government kicked in some money a decade ago to help get the 15,000-seat downtown arena built.
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca