‘$105-M photo op’: McFadyen
Premier playing to voters, he says
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/04/2010 (5653 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
THE new Winnipeg stadium deal is an expensive "photo op" for a rookie premier looking to pad his resumé for next year’s election, but it’s bad for taxpayers, Opposition Leader Hugh McFadyen said Wednesday.
McFadyen, who describes himself as a lifelong Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan, said he’s concerned a one-time, private-sector-led plan to build the CFL club a new home has now become a taxpayer-driven one.
And he’s pessimistic that businessman David Asper will be able to generate enough income from a proposed retail development on the site of the old football stadium by 2016 to repay a $90-million loan the province is taking out on his behalf to get the new stadium built.
If Asper is unsuccessful, taxpayers will be on the hook for the debt, he said.
"It’s clear what happened. Mr. Selinger is looking for a photo op going into the 2011 election. So what he did (Wednesday) is take $105 million of your money (the $90-million loan and a $25-million grant)… for a $105-million photo op," McFadyen said.
The province is taking on more than 90 per cent of the new stadium’s cost at the same time it’s demanding a public-sector wage freeze, scaling back spending projects and projecting a $545-million 2010-2011 deficit, he said.
Selinger is also breaking a promise made by former premier Gary Doer not to use a funding mechanism called tax-increment financing (TIF) to build the stadium, McFadyen said.
TIF is normally used in blighted areas such as empty sections of downtown, not in valuable commercial neighbourhoods such as Polo Park. Property taxes are forgiven for a period of years to encourage development.
Selinger announced Wednesday that he and Mayor Sam Katz had agreed to use the strategy as "insurance" against Asper failing to pay off the $90-million loan.
"We think it’s a responsible use of a development tool. This (the proposed shopping complex at Polo Park) is a major redevelopment," Selinger said. "It will generate a broader tax base for both education taxes as well as municipal taxes in the future."
Katz said the city isn’t collecting any taxes from the old stadium right now anyway. "We get zero revenue and we contribute about $1.3 million…. to the Bombers in lieu of other things."
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
