Lansdowne 2.0 Will Cost Each Ottawan $500: THE VOTER
The City of Ottawa needs to flip the financing plan so that it gets the profits resulting from any future builds and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group partnership gets the benefits generated by the so-called waterfall.
If, in fact, it’s a fair deal that Ottawa has, then OSEG will no doubt agree that it would be fair for them to accept that deal. If Ottawa has been given an unfair deal where the benefits are flowing to OSEG instead of being divided appropriately between the city and OSEG, then it’s time to ditch all Lansdowne deals and return to the drawing board.
Hopefully, going back to the drawing board has the potential of evening the investment benefit ratio for the city. If it can’t get a better set-up, it’s time to walk away before one more cent of taxpayer money is tossed into this black hole.
A $500-million project in a community of 1 million people means that each man, woman and child is putting an absolute minimum of $500 into Lansdowne 2.0. That’s money that many Ottawa residents could use for the much more important needs that they are already having trouble meeting. Needs as basic as food and shelter in some cases.
Ottawa and its residents didn’t need Lansdowne 1.0 and they definitely don’t need Lansdowne 2.0. For many Ottawa residents, it’s not even a want. Let’s get off this crazy train bound for financial ruin while we still can.
The Voter is a respected community activist and long-time Bulldog commenter who prefers to keep her identity private.
For You:
Better LRT Begins At Ballot Box: DOUCET
Council Ignores Six Lansdowne Red Flags: BENN
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– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
Hockey rinks for kids are failing apart with no funding to fix them. Instead we are about to build a third professional sports arena……for spectator sports. For how many people.. maybe 80k out of 1.4 million!
Watching:
The current stadium is adequate for the Redblacks in a league that is losing popularity.
We should have gone with an MLS franchise Eugene Melnyk had in his pocket but then the old boys network kicked in.
cheers
kgray
Does Ottawa ‘need’ an outdoor stadium to host professional and elite level sports such as football, soccer and from time to time rugby? The answer is an emotional rather than empirical yes. These are elements of the infrastructure of a mature city. The same answer is given for having an indoor arena capable of hosting indoor ice-oriented events such as hockey, curling and figure skating.
If Lansdowne 2.0 was limited to rebuilding the north stands and adding a smaller ice-oriented event centre, then perhaps it should proceed. Perhaps. But Lansdowne 2.0 is not about rebuilding the north stands and the smaller indoor venue.
Lansdowne 2.0 is about building two high rise towers which will extrude from the top of the north stands. The north stands and event centre are the smoke, the flashes of light, the puffs of reflective confetti tossed in the air by the developers and their compliant stage hands at city hall. To distract the public from where the real money is going to be made. The real money being earned by the developers, but NOT shared with the city.
The time is long past for the city hall supporters of Lansdowne 2.0 to acknowledge that they active members of the stage crew in this misuse of public funds. That will occur shortly after the Easter Bunny enters via the chimney to leave a few coins under the pillows of the adults posing as six year olds on Groundhog Day.
The Ottawa Charge women’s hockey team will likely become unviable with the reduction of seats planned
I’m just curious if anyone around the horseshoe actually pays attention to the auditor general. She has been fairly quiet (non-existent) on LRT but has actually voiced her concerns about Lansdowne 2.0. Will wonders never cease?
If Sutcliffe et al actually heard what Gagnon and most people with a brain did, the flashing red lights and loud, clanging bells would be their nightly nightmares. It just seems like this is a done deal and one must ask why?