[News Roundup] CSEC/City arena deal UPDATED: Third Party Facilitator

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Agreed. This whole thing looks like a political play, and I could see Gondek get trounced next election with this being a primary driver uniting big $$ on the other side for whoever is hand picked to run against.

The arena deal failing is only a microcosm of the entire issue at hand. Again, this city has a Mayor going rogue, who appears to think they are the final authority on everything, just as Nenshi had become during his final term, but even he had the common sense to keep his mouth shut when the situation called for it.

Gondek appears to be next level egotistical in the way she included only a few members of council in revealing the critical issues that had arose, and refused to even call a council meeting to discuss this issue falling apart. Now you have an entire district left swinging in the wind with train stations, underpasses and bridges all in progress or committed with major price tags that will effectively go nowhere. Say what you want about the merit of the city funding a project like this, but we had a deal in place and you need to honor that deal or maintain a positive, constructive relationship or you send a very bad message to anyone considering large project in our city moving forward.

The city is in great hands coming out of the pandemic.

[CliffFletcher]

It probably wasn’t smart for Kenney to respond the way he did. But I’m confident that if a premier Notley had responded to the same question by blaming CSEC for the deal falling through, the people clutching their pearls in this thread over Kenney’s remarks wouldn’t have made a peep.

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I live in Edmonton and lots of people love Iveson here. People generally appreciate his track record.

You're going to have to explain this one.

The public transit boondoggle, the issues with all the money spent on building out the recycling infrastructure that was supposed to make money and could be shuttered entirely.

His heart was in the right place, his decisions and execution are massive failures.

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

to be fair, Edmonton needed help with downtown a zillion times more than Calgary does. That's not a good argument.

True in the past, but Calgary's dt is at huge risk. Calgary needed a new arena and all the associated infrastructure, it couldn't just skate by on work done in the '80's and '90's.

[PeteMoss]

I'm shocked that Postmedia would come out with a bunch of articles blaming the city over the billionaire owners. Always carrying that water.

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

It probably wasn’t smart for Kenney to respond the way he did. But I’m confident that if a premier Notley had responded to the same question by blaming CSEC for the deal falling through, the people clutching their pearls in this thread over Kenney’s remarks wouldn’t have made a peep.

Premiers should stay out of municipal politics, at least publicly.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

It probably wasn’t smart for Kenney to respond the way he did. But I’m confident that if a premier Notley had responded to the same question by blaming CSEC for the deal falling through, the people clutching their pearls in this thread over Kenney’s remarks wouldn’t have made a peep.

Notley wouldn’t have waded in like that.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

It probably wasn’t smart for Kenney to respond the way he did. But I’m confident that if a premier Notley had responded to the same question by blaming CSEC for the deal falling through, the people clutching their pearls in this thread over Kenney’s remarks wouldn’t have made a peep.

Your schtick of trying to say "if your side did it" is getting tiresome. Judge comments on their merit, don't just dismiss them because you don't like who is being criticized.

[zamler]

It's a schticky situation for sure.

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Notley wouldn’t have waded in like that.

In my experience with her, yes she would have. She may not have spoken directly, but her communications team would have issued a statement.

The difference would have been the tone of the coverage and by whom.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by -TC-

In my experience with her, yes she would have. She may not have spoken directly, but her communications team would have issued a statement.

The difference would have been the tone of the coverage and by whom.

So in other words, not “wading in like he did”. They wouldn’t have gotten the basic facts wrong.

I find it funny that the usual critics of Nenshi/Gondek/Notley are complaining that the city is not paying more for a private enterprise.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by -TC-

The public transit boondoggle, the issues with all the money spent on building out the recycling infrastructure that was supposed to make money and could be shuttered entirely.

His heart was in the right place, his decisions and execution are massive failures.

Nah. The Valley Line LRT, while cost overrun happened (like many major transportation projects), was desperately needed and is almost completed. Valley Line West is underway, with the Metro Line through Blatchford set for expansion. His commitment to addressing homelessness moved the City forward light-years in terms of policy (even though the UCP stymied some of that progress), among his environmental platform achievements as well. And like any other Mayor, he had to content with the O/G downturn and COVID.

Massive failures? No.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Your schtick of trying to say "if your side did it" is getting tiresome. Judge comments on their merit, don't just dismiss them because you don't like who is being criticized.

I don’t mind Kenney being criticized at all. I just can’t help but notice that the people calling him out in this thread hate him already and routinely make posts in other threads expressing their hate. The notion that they’re only motivated by a sense of propriety around the role of the premier in municipal matters is comical.

I get a kick out of calling attention to partisanship and don’t intend to stop. If it annoys you that much, put me on ignore.

[Amethyst]

I think the premier blaming the city makes it harder to get a deal done in the future. So I don't see why the people who really, really, really want a new arena are giving Kenney a pass.

Kenney loves to criticize other levels of government. He does it because if he can get people all riled up about Trudeau or Gondek, or whoever, they won't notice what a lousy job he is doing. And it seems to work with a lot of voters, so I'm sure it will continue.

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t mind Kenney being criticized at all. I just can’t help but notice that the people calling him out in this thread hate him already and routinely make posts in other threads expressing their hate. The notion that they’re only motivated by a sense of propriety around the role of the premier in municipal matters is comical.

I get a kick out of calling attention to partisanship and don’t intend to stop. If it annoys you that much, put me on ignore.

Oh, please find all my other posts about Kenney

[Major Major]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t mind Kenney being criticized at all. I just can’t help but notice that the people calling him out in this thread hate him already and routinely make posts in other threads expressing their hate. The notion that they’re only motivated by a sense of propriety around the role of the premier in municipal matters is comical.

I get a kick out of calling attention to partisanship and don’t intend to stop. If it annoys you that much, put me on ignore.

You mean, hypothetical partisanship, ya?

[Yoho]

Let’s be sure to focus on Kenney instead of the parties involved that led to a failed events center deal.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I don’t mind Kenney being criticized at all. I just can’t help but notice that the people calling him out in this thread hate him already and routinely make posts in other threads expressing their hate. The notion that they’re only motivated by a sense of propriety around the role of the premier in municipal matters is comical.

I get a kick out of calling attention to partisanship and don’t intend to stop. If it annoys you that much, put me on ignore.

So in your mind, the only people who an point out that it is not helpful for the Premier to point fingers are those who support him? That's going to be a pretty short list these days. Maybe, just maybe, not everything is partisanship, and people are just calling it what it is, a dumb comment to make. But you go ahead and view every comment everyone posts through your partisan filter. Seems to be well calibrated.

[Manhattanboy]

Because of the contempt for Edwards (and now Kenney) many have, including on this board, it wouldn’t matter if our new mayor and her chief of staff turn out to be narcissistic authoritarian liars. They and the city can do no wrong.

[Major Major]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Because of the contempt for Edwards (and now Kenney) many have, including on this board, it wouldn’t matter if our new mayor and her chief of staff turn out to be narcissistic authoritarian liars. They and the city can do no wrong.

Isn't everybody simply putting this through their own trust lens right now? It's either the evil authoritarian mayor or the greedy businessman. Doesn't the thing that still makes the most sense and was even outlined quite heavily in the CSEC release is that this is just the wrong time to build a project of this magnitude?

Why not just present that unified approach?

Edwards probably thinks he can chisel her if he sways public opinion which we're seeing the gears in motion with the Corbella hit pieces.

And Gondek probably got too caught up in power moves and wanted to show too much strength as a rookie mayor.