Feds Unlikely To Help Fund LeBreton Arena

09/17/2023

The federal government will probably pass on participating in a deal to build a new arena for the Ottawa Senators.

Sources close to the federal government say that the Trudeau government is preoccupied with the housing shortage that might require billions of dollars to remedy. As well, the look of offering hundreds of millions to rich owners of the club while Canadians are struggling with housing woes also mitigates against federal money.

Sources also say that one of the reasons Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is touting other locations than the federally owned LeBreton Flats is that the land, under the jurisdiction of the National Capital Commission, carries enormous costs for brownfields remediation. Among the pollutants on the vacant land are the ashes of the Great Ottawa Fire of 1900.

Sens At LeBreton? It’s Just Fading Away

As well, the National Hockey League has said it thinks the LeBreton location is too small for a modern arena though it is believed that negotiations with the NCC are upcoming on the amount of land to be made available.

Also telling is the breakdown of funding for a new Calgary arena where the federal government did not participate. The the costs there are $537 million from the Calgary municipal government, the province of Alberta will ante up $330 million and the NHL Flames hockey club with its associated interests will contribute $356 million. The City of Calgary will own the arena.

Interestingly, Rogers Communication and its Toronto Blue Jays baseball club explored replacing the iconic Rogers Centre in the city’s core. After weighing its options, costs and making public tentative plans for a new building, Rogers and the Jays decided to pour $300 million into renovating the existing ballpark.

The LeBreton location has some pronounced challenges as a site for a new arena. It is in an isolated part of downtown so there would be few walk-up customers. The Confederation Line LRT is very unreliable, has suffered a number of derailments and the train and the bus system are having capacity problems now without adding 16,000 hockey patrons to the mix. The area is bereft of parking while the expansive lots at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata are a good source of revenue for the Senators. As well, much of the NHL club’s seasons ticket holders are located in the west end and the population centre of Ottawa is moving west as Kanata’s tech sector continues to grow. Furthermore, a large number of downtown federal employees are taking advantage of work-at-home options.

Bridge Early, NCC? How About LeBreton?

A source close to the provincial Conservatives says he doubts Queen’s Park has been approached about an arena deal. If the Tories were, they would be unlikely to use taxpayer money to fund the hockey and event centre but instead could use the windfall profits coming from provincially owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming.

Ken Gray

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The Voter says:
09/17/2023 at 10:19 AM
If the province funds an arena from OLG money, what does that mean for the hundreds of charities that currently benefit from that money? This includes recreation groups such as amateur sports teams as well as cultural and social service organizations, many of which could not function without OLG dollars.