Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Someone call Larry Bertuzzi to sort this out

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, February 10, 2011 9:03am - 21 Comments

The Conservatives may or may not allow gas tax revenues to be used to build a hockey arena in Quebec City, but the mayor of Quebec City isn’t open to using the city’s gas tax funding to build that arena and he and Quebec Premier Jean Charest are now ready to go ahead without the federal government’s involvement. Regardless, the mayor of Edmonton is upset, the city of St. Catharines is interested and the city of Regina is befuddled.

Chuck McDonald, director of finance for the City of Regina, said out of the $10.66 million in gas tax received for 2011, $4 million will go to bridge renewal, $1.18 million is for street renewal, $3.66 is for new buses and $1.82 million is for the new landfill. Such spending is typical for the gas tax dollars.

“If I understand correctly and they would designate that facilities would be eligible, it really is a question of robbing Peter to pay Paul, because if we were to dedicate it to a facility, it means we’d have to find other funding for street infrastructure or the fleet. The pie stays the same size,” McDonald said. ”It would provide more flexibility, but we’ve got our core things that we have to invest in. We would have to find funding somewhere else for these things.”

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  • WDM

    The mayors are too honest. They're ruining Steve's plan! He probably figured he could get Quebec City it's arena and when everyone's forgotten about it, strike a new infrastructure deal down the road. I mean if a bridge is condemned, are the feds going to say, 'no, sorry, you're stuck with it?'

    • McC_

      The feds and the province of New Brunswick have been having a fight like this for decades over who is responsible for maintaining the Saint John Harbour Bridge.

  • Anon 001

    Clearly, these mayors do not love the troops. Or hockey. Or Don "Way Past His Due Date" Cherry.

  • madeyoulook

    As long as it isn't TODD Bertuzzi getting the call…

  • madeyoulook

    "The pie stays the same size,” McDonald said. ”It would provide more flexibility, but we’ve got our core things that we have to invest in. We would have to find funding somewhere else for these things.”

    Wow! There is an elected official somewhere who actually grasps the concept of the limits of public finances! Bravo, Mr. Mayor!

    Oh, and that somewhere else? For a hockey rink to pull in the NHL? Psst… they call it the private sector.

    • Criacow

      "Chuck McDonald, director of finance for the City of Regina, said…"

      So not the mayor. But, I'm happy just to see a government finance minister/director somewhere understand this surprisingly difficult-to-grasp concept of finances.

      • madeyoulook

        Ooops. Thanks for the correction.

  • LaxAtlDfwYow

    This never was, is not now, and will never be about a province, city or mayor outside QC. This is exclusively about protecting CPC seats in QC and thus only a "real" funding issue for QC, QCity and Labeaume. Including the ROC in any arena funding scheme was solely CPC ass covering.

    ROC-mayoral objections to the very clever CPC gas tax modification matters not a hoot, as there is little near term political benefit to the CPC.

    What is very interesting, however, is the Charest/Labeaume gambit claiming they will fund the NHL dream arena without the Feds. This is a bold squeeze play that stands to damage the CPC in QC if they do not visibly contribute.

    Seems like more than PMSH can play politics.

    • gottabesaid

      'This is a bold squeeze play that stands to damage the CPC in QC if they do not visibly contribute.'

      You don't think they can somehow get their 'we helped to bring the NHL back to QC!' foot in the door? C'mon now… you're selling the PM short!

    • tedbetts

      It is a bold squeeze play, though I get the sense that that is just one of the corrollary benefits.

      From what I've read and followed, I think they tried to work something out with Harper even for him to lay down specific criteria that they could then take to the market, and he's been trying to have his cake and eat it too. As long as Harper could continue to say one thing to Quebec and another to the rest of the country, and not have to be clear or take a real position, then he was gold.

      Quebec just got impatient. They want to move ahead.

      And now the tables are completely flipped because now Harper doesn't end up looking good one way or another. With no funding, he and his MPs are shown to be pretty irrelevant to one of the biggest things that will happen in the province as this goes forward and his MPs are vulnerable and every time there is a major rink announcement Charest and Lebaume will be there and the Conservatives conspicuous by their absence.

      But if he funds anything now, he's toast everywhere including in Quebec. It's quite delicious.

      • LaxAtlDfwYow

        Fully agree. It would be really quite entertaining if it wasn't about pols fighting over who gets to misuse taxpayers money for their own benefit.

        While my rational brain says it will never happen — minority or majority — I still can't completely purge the hope that PMSH one day will hold a press conference and simply say: "Enough is enough. I've tried to govern like the free spending PM's of the 70s and 80s, but it didn't work for the country then and it will not work now."

        Okay, back on the meds now.

        • tedbetts

          He takes Parenteral/Oral Water-based Effexor-Remeron, a combination anti-depressant.

          If he doesn't take 144 mg of it each morning, he starts writing firewall letters and calling Canada a "second tier nation" or "northern socialist welfare state of the worst kind".

    • CAPS

      Now he may heve been disingenuous but Gary Bettman said during his press conference during the All Star break,

      “When there’s all this speculation—most of which isn’t based on anything—I get concerned because I don’t want our fans to be let on. As I said, we’re not planning to expand, we’re not planning to relocate. If something were to change, I’ve been on record as saying we’d be silly not to take a good hard look at places we’ve been if situations have changed since we were last there.

      We don’t get involved in the creation of a building in Quebec City or anywhere else, because we tell people who are building buildings, don’t build it with the expectation you’re going to have a team because we’re not going to make you that promise.”

      If it were federal funding for a community-owned buidling of which a NHL team was but one tenant and the facility was used for various community events then it could perhaps be justified however, let's not kid ourselves as that is certainly not the case here.

  • tedbetts

    Apparently they were close to a deal with the feds, and Harper was willing to give 3X what they wanted, but Charest just couldn't agree to the "an Economic Action Plan sign in every window" requirement or renaming the arena "The Stephen Harper Loves The Quebec Nation Centre".

  • hollinm

    Let's remember the story originated with Weston and the CBC. There is no verification that the story is in fact true.
    However, who do we think is kidding who?. Somewhere, somehow Quebec will get federal money to fund the arena. Yes on the suface the province and the municipality will put up the money but at some point equalization to Quebec will be increased or other sources of federal revenue will be given. Who does Charest think he is kidding? Its all smoke and mirrors.

    • brooster2

      "Let's remember the story originated with Weston and the CBC"

      It's probably more accurate to say the story originated with "sources" in the PMO where, I suspect, the CBC is as reviled as socialism unless they need it to run an errand for them.

  • chrimartel

    Harper reported offer reminds me the one presented by J. Parizeau in 1995 to the Nordiques and the other by L. Bouchard to the Expos in 1998. "Then-"cashstrapped premiers have offered money already allowed in other programs (tourism promotioin, if I remember well).

  • ZestyMordant

    Harper wants votes, Quebec City wants an arena. The solution here is really, really simple.

    Conservative Fund Canada should pay for it.

  • Blue

    I think I may have a solution to the funding problems with this new hockey rink in Quebec.

    Sell the advertising space—sell the space on the boards, on the doors, on the roof, on the walls, on the beer, on the banners—-sell the name of the building, sell the street it`s on…………..and here`s where it gets tricky—-bring Coderre and the Liberals in on the scheme.
    After all they still have some money tied up in some of those advertising agencies.

  • chet

    It won't be long now where Mr. Wherry here, posts on how the Sun rising in the East is the result of Tory mismanagement on a scale that will lead to the Harper downfall.

    Everything else seems to lead to that conclusion here.

  • Jenn_

    My mayor was on the radio today about this. He's also the head of the Large Cities Mayor's Group. The problem, as he sees it, is that sewers and bridges and streets and that sort of stuff isn't very exciting. The pressure to fund something people can actually SEE will be too great for anyone wanting re-election. And we'll be left with shiny new buildings with the roads leading to them crumbling into sinkholes as the pipes burst beneath them.

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