Well liberals, so Ignatieff is going to buy the quebec vote with a new

[PIK]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/14/you-say-hockey-arena-ignatieff-says-public-space/ Edited March 14, 2011 by PIK

[capricorn]

...and in the process is redefining the term "culture".

[PIK]

...and in the process is redefining the term "culture".

He must read this forum ,because I mentioned culture for a reason to help with CFL stadiums.(but not arenas)

[Wilber]

Just checked the Canucks site. Cheapest culture experience I can get will cost me $142 in the corner nose bleeds. $163 in the same section to see the Oilers. Go figure.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Wilber

[PIK]

Hmmmmm, very quiet on the lefty front.

[bloodyminded]

Hmmmmm, very quiet on the lefty front.

????

We're talking talking about an Establishment Centrist named Ignatieff; since when do the "lefties" support and defend him?

[fellowtraveller]

He has not indicated how much his government would cough up, but really, can you put a pricetag on culture?

Hey Mr Ignatieff, in fact you can put a price on culture! In Edmonton, the price is $450 million for a new downtown arena and the project is short about $150 million at this point. You can send the cheque to Mayor Steven Mandel, before Friday would be great. Thanks.

[punked]

No wonder they are swinging for the fences Ledger has a new poll out, Nationally:

"the Conservative Party was the likely choice of 36 per cent of respondents, followed by Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals at 23 per cent, Jack Layton's New Democratic Party at 18 per cent and the Gilles Duceppe-led Bloc Québécois in a tie with Elizabeth May's Green Party at 10 per cent."

And in Qu it is even worse for them:

"The Bloc had a wide edge in Quebec at 41 per cent, with the NDP, Liberals and Conservatives jostling for second with 20, 18 and 16 per cent, respectively. In the Montreal area, the Bloc dominated with 35 per cent, with the Liberals next at 24 and the NDP third at 21 per cent."

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Charest+Liberals+sink/4434357/story.html#ixzz1GbwiELhP

With number like those the Liberals could actually lose 7 seats in Qu.

[Molly]

Dumb. Short-sighted.

[Shakeyhands]

Dumb. Short-sighted.

Yup.

Make a big difference in revenues and taxes though if Quebec is awarded an NHL team. The optics sure are bad though.

[Evening Star]

Ugh.

[Shakeyhands]

Upon further reflection, it actually will be a boon to local business etc... if QC is awarded a team again. Better investment that the G20 or ads spent on the EAP.

Still think the optics are crappy though.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Shakeyhands

[Evening Star]

I dunno, is there much written about the economic benefits of sports teams? Buffalo and Detroit have all kinds of sports teams and are both still pretty roughed up.

[capricorn]

Upon further reflection, it actually will be a boon to local business etc... if QC is awarded a team again. Better investment that the G20 or ads spent on the EAP.

Still think the optics are crappy though.

Surely by now Gary Bettman has qualified for honorary Quebec citizenship. Because the National Hockey League commissioner has answered no to the same question from Quebec City so many times that it’s almost as if he’s already voting in our referendums.

The question is asked every time another “winning condition” is met in the construction of the new Quebec City arena: Now will the NHL put a team there?

And every time, Bettman gives the same answer: Not now, not in the foreseeable future and maybe not even when there is an NHL team skating in a frozen-over hell (not to be confused with New Jersey in February).

Again this week, Bettman was asked, after Pierre Karl Péladeau bought the management and naming rights to the arena for 25 years and vowed to put “all my heart and all my energy” into bringing in an NHL team.

And again, the NHL commissioner said no.

“I was very careful with the mayor (of Quebec City) and everybody to say, ‘Listen, you’re doing this, but we’re not promising you a team or anything close to that,’ ” he told CBC Radio.

“There’s no process in place, and there’s not likely, anytime soon, to be a process in place to getting a team there.”

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Quebec+City+Bettman+answer+always+been+same/4387192/story.html

Bettman does not seem disposed to any NHL expansion in Canada. Quebec City will not get an NHL franchise as long as Bettman's in the driver's seat.

[Shakeyhands]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Quebec+City+Bettman+answer+always+been+same/4387192/story.html

Bettman does not seem disposed to any NHL expansion in Canada. Quebec City will not get an NHL franchise as long as Bettman's in the driver's seat.

Well there you go then...

[GWiz]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/14/you-say-hockey-arena-ignatieff-says-public-space/

Ummm, would you have a LINK to what Ignatieff actually said IN CONTEXT?

by edit>

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Punish+Conservatives+voting+Liberal+Ignatieff+Quebec/4438026/story.html

Better, but still no actual speech transcript...

Maybe it's because of things like this, eh >

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/03/05/pol-pmo-ignatieff.html?ref=rss

Edited March 14, 2011 by GWiz

[William Ashley]

Isn't this what Harper wanted to do by forcing municipalities to pay for it from their gas taxes? (biggeset slap in the face ever)

You know give them money for the rink.. from money they were already getting from Gas taxes - so they could say they were giving?

I still think a business plan has to exist that demonstrates it will bring in revenue or break even.

Edited March 14, 2011 by William Ashley

[Shady]

Where's Topaz on this outrage?

[capricorn]

Ummm, would you have a LINK to what Ignatieff actually said IN CONTEXT?

Here's a google translation of what Ignatieff said in Quebec on March 12 about federal funding.

"Josee Verner and Harper have demonstrated incredible incompetence in this matter," said Mr. Ignatieff. "One day they say one thing, another day another. I said the same thing for 15 months with Mayor Régis Labeaume. If there is a business plan and participation of all levels of government and private sectors, we are stakeholders for active participation in this matter. (...) There is now a clear choice. If you want a federal involvement, we have to vote Liberal ", without explaining how his party would finance the project. The Liberal leader claims that "Quebecers are not able [to bear] Stephen Harper" and he offered an alternative. "When we have an election, we will have a clear choice," he predicted.

Full original French media text here.

http://www.canoe.com/cgi-bin/imprimer.cgi?id=867208

[Scotty]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Quebec+City+Bettman+answer+always+been+same/4387192/story.html

Bettman does not seem disposed to any NHL expansion in Canada. Quebec City will not get an NHL franchise as long as Bettman's in the driver's seat.

Yeah, Bettman has been pretty clear. I think if he had his way the franchises in Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary would be removed and sent down to Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and New Mexico. Bettman wants US expansion at any cost, and he doesn't give a shit what happens in Canada. In fact, he resents the Canadian teams because most of them don't sell well when they're playing at US arenas. And if the NHL has to actually pay millions of dollars to operate those teams because no one wants to watch them, then that's exactly what it will do. His entire reason for existence is advancing hockey in the US in a desperate, pathetic hope of getting a network contract down there. And the fewer Canadian teams the better.

[nicky10013]

I don't support this, yet I laugh at the lack of institutional memory. Not too many people here were opposed to the funding when Harper waved it in the face of Quebec until the city and project rejected the idea of any kind of federal involvement.

[Topaz]

OK, now the following is what he really said and it does make more sense than what he national post said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/03/14/pol-ignatieff-quebec-arena.html

[August1991]

Bettman does not seem disposed to any NHL expansion in Canada. Quebec City will not get an NHL franchise as long as Bettman's in the driver's seat.

It seems to me that Harper should promise to put pressure on Bettman/the NHL to move a franchise to Quebec City.

That would cost no money and is what people in Quebec City really want. The arena is a means to a goal, not the goal itself.

But what do I know? IMV, having men build an arena in Quebec City is the equivalent of Japanese cars flooding down a street in a tsunami: pure waste.

----

As for Ignatieff, the Liberals are not going to win any seats in Quebec City and his prounouncement will just alienate voters elsewhere in Canada. I reckon that Ignatieff was before a partisan crowd and he just didn't have the energy to tell them something that they didn't want to hear.

[punked]

OK, now the following is what he really said and it does make more sense than what he national post said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/03/14/pol-ignatieff-quebec-arena.html

No Topaz it is the same thing. He wants to go out and buy votes. The Liberals have hit rock bottom the only good thing for them is no one is listening to them. That might be why they are saying crazy things though because Jack Layton is getting more press then their Leader. Sometimes there is no bad press and when you are pulling 23% support in the polls and you are the Liberals now is one of those times.

[punked]

As for Ignatieff, the Liberals are not going to win any seats in Quebec City and his prounouncement will just alienate voters elsewhere in Canada. I reckon that Ignatieff was before a partisan crowd and he just didn't have the energy to tell them something that they didn't want to hear.

Sounds like Mr. Flip Flop can't trust a word out of his mouth Ignatieff doesn't it?