Quote:
Originally Posted by flamesaresmokin
And this is somehow a problem that concerns Alberta tax payers?
I'd rather the province shoveled 100M dollars into a giant pile and torched it then hand it over to the Oilers/Flames on the preposterous notion that its going to benefit each city. We as taxpayers get to see our money used to line NHL owners pockets and also pay even more exorbitant prices to watch hockey under the premise of a having the privilege of going to a "state of the art" facility.
How about the benefit that money would have if it were invested or spent on health care/education.
|
I've said this lots before so I'm sure I'm sounding very repetitve. But the city and province will benefit from a new arena facility, both directly and indirectly in revenue generation for both of them. Both direct and indirect job creation (the indirect much harder to quantify, such as business that thrive because of the existance of the Flames and other events at the facility) will benefit the province and city, as well as the cultural benefits of such a facility creates (again through the increased appeal Calgary will have by having an NHL franchise and a facility to support concerts etc...) which in turns makes the city a more appealing place for companies to set up shop and create jobs and revenues for the province.
Now, what I have no idea about is how much that benefit is worth, and I couldn't figure it out with out being close to the numbers. But, whether that worth 5% of the cost or 70% of the cost of the new rink, whatever it is, the City and Province should actually pay their share IMO, as they also reap the benefits of such a facility.