Why I’ll Vote No On Lansdowne: DEVINE

The easiest way for any government to publicly disclose controversial news is to make the announcement late on a Friday afternoon.

And if you can take advantage of doing that on the Friday of a long holiday weekend, even better.

And so it was, late last Friday afternoon, with half the city already shut down for the long Thanksgiving weekend, that the City of Ottawa announced the upcoming committee and council meeting dates for Lansdowne 2.0, easily the most controversial and divisive issue that council will debate during this term of Ottawa City Council.

—

This newsletter excerpt from Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Sean Devine is courtesy of the city-wide community group Your Applewood Acres (And Beyond) Neighbours

—

Now we have the dates when council will make its “go or don’t go” final decision on the $419 million project.

The final deliberations for Lansdowne 2.0 will be debated at a special meeting of the finance and corporate services committee on Oct. 29 (with Oct. 30. and 31 being reserved for “holdover days” due to the expected number of delegations), and the matter will then rise to a special council meeting on Nov. 7. The reports for these meetings, including the staff recommendations for the Lansdowne 2.0 Redevelopment and Construction Approval Plans, have yet to be released by city staff.

As for the project’s eventual costs and revenue projections, the auditor general has already stated that the project’s true costs are likely $75 million higher, and third-party accounting firm Ernst & Young has already labeled the project’s revenue projections as “optimistic”, which, apparently, is accountant language for “good luck with that.”

I’ve made my position clear on Lansdowne 2.0 from the start. My concerns are many:

• I don’t have sufficient confidence in the project’s costs or financial projections.
• Ottawa’s financial projections for Lansdowne 1.0 didn’t materialize, so why should anyone expect better results for 2.0?
• I can think of many greater priorities for public investment.
• There’s no guarantee that the Ottawa Redblacks will stay long-term.
• By downgrading the arena capacity from 8,000 to 5,500, how does this help Ottawa keep the PWHL Charge, who regularly sell out the current venue?
• It’s ludicrous to spend half a billion dollars and not build a roof over the north stands.
• We can achieve significant upgrades to the facility, as well as improve accessibility needs, without spending half a billion dollars.
• The site is nowhere close to “end-of-life”.
• Transportation in and out of Lansdowne is horrible for big events, and the plan for Lansdowne 2.0 does nothing to address that.

Those are just my own positions on this matter. I would genuinely appreciate it if residents of Ward 9 emailed me to let me know where they stand on this issue. Please send an email to knoxdalemerivale@ottawa.ca with the subject line “Lansdowne 2.0” and let me know where you stand on the proposed investment in Lansdowne 2.0. Please include your address in your email, as I want to consider the positions of Ward 9 residents, specifically.

—

Late Lansdowne Press Release Criticized

—

It will be interesting to see how the votes for Lansdowne 2.0 play out this fall. It’s fair to say that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has a lot riding on Lansdowne 2.0 being successful and doing what he must to get a majority of votes in support.

I know of several councillors who are adamantly against Lansdowne 2.0, and for reasons similar to mine. I know of councillors who are in support of Lansdowne 2.0, based on thoughtful consideration of the financial risks of not proceeding with this project.

I’m sure there are councillors, however, whose residents likely don’t care much at all about Lansdowne, or whether it gets an upgrade or not. Certainly, many of those councillors have residents who would be extremely concerned about spending half a billion dollars of taxpayer money on a project with a shaky financial foundation.

For any of those councillors who do support Lansdowne 2.0, it will be interesting to hear their reasons. Even more interesting will be what their residents think about this during the next municipal election.

For You:

City Adds Charge To Tax Charges: PATTON

Make Bad Traffic An Election Issue: DEVINE

Want To Protest? Fill Out A Form

Property Subsidy Will Get The Rubber Stamp: STANKOVIC

Bookmark The Bulldog, click here