Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
My God man, it's not the least bit condescending to ask if someone appreciates the difference between a library and a for profit enterprise. Only different from a functionality and purpose perspective? If the City was building a 18,000 seat community arena for all Calgarians to use to enrich their lives then perhaps I would agree with you.
But I'm pretty sure the city is being asked to subsidize a for profit business.
I most certainly want to see a new arena built. I want the Flames to continue to play in Calgary during my lifetime.
But the argument and the economics have to make sense. There are lots of businesses that would love public money and there are lots of government services that need funding.
|
This is where it gets tricky (and I don't pretend to have the answers). But I think it is important to keep the hockey team (a for-profit business) separate from the arena (which the for-profit business needs, but also has other uses and benefits for the community).
The 64,000 question of course, is how much benefit is there for the community? And also, how much subsidy is tolerable, in order to house the for-profit business?