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February 22, 2011
Saskatchewan: If feds won't fund our stadium, we won't build one
The Saskatchewan provincial government now says it will abandon plans for a new Roughriders stadium if federal funding isn't forthcoming by next week:
In a letter to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, provincial cabinet minister Ken Cheveldayoff writes that the province is at a "critical point in the decision process and associated timeline for the project."
The province has been looking to Ottawa to pick up about 25 per cent of the cost of the proposed $431-million multi-purpose entertainment facility. Saskatchewan has made an application to PPP Canada, a federal Crown which supports public-private partnerships, for the funds.
Not that Saskatchewan knows who'd pay for the rest of it, but that's a mere detail. As is the fact that the Canadian federal government has said that it wants nothing to do with stadium funding.
Presumably the goal here is to make one last desperation play for P3 funding, then blame the feds for torpedoing the stadium if they don't come through. Assuming anyone in Regina will care much — the team is community-owned, so it's not like fans need to worry about it moving to Saskatoon.
Again, the City and province have claimed they are committing about $170M toward the project.
If that claim is genuine, they do not need federal money to build a stadium. Their neighbours to the east are building a $190M open air stadium (and no, it isn't a no frills facility either) right now.
And politicians wonder why we hate them so much...
