Maybe I am just cynical, but tax dollars get wasted all the time on things that have no improvement on the lives of regular people. It will just get pissed away on other pet projects that people end up forgetting about. It's better to have one big bonfire than a bunch of little fires, at least once in a while. As long as they aren't slashing the budget on other things, and this project is on top of paying for municipal necessities, I say go for it.
Danielle Smith mentioned that the Edmonton entrainment district has already payed dividends that justify the use of public money. I came across one CBC article that said as of 2019, the entertainment district had already generated an additional $2 billion in economic activity downtown. It also gave a differing view saying that the additional economic activity was going to happen anyway and that they didn't need to build an entertainment district to do it. I wonder what the truth is... maybe somewhere in the middle as usual?
After Katz got the deal he did, I don't think the Flames owners were going to settle for less. The seal was kind of broken after that.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
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