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Ottawa to give Laval $37.5-million for sports complex

RHÉAL SÉGUIN AND SEAN GORDON

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 3:52 PM EST 03/09/08

Local investors wanted to bring CFL to Quebec City, but federal government refused to accept that proposal ...Read the full article

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  1. Proud Canadian from Canada writes: Now, thats anything to buy a vote. Wow. The Crappers will stoop to anything..
  2. M Poland from Calgary, Canada writes: It would be cool to welcome Quebec City to the CFL! Bonne chance, mes amis!
  3. Chris Halford from Ottawa, Canada writes: It's election time - WooHoo! Football in Quebec is being paid for by cuts to the Arts.
  4. Derek Lambert from Edmonton, Canada writes: Chris Halford from Ottawa, Canada writes: It's election time - WooHoo! Football in Quebec is being paid for by cuts to the Arts.

    Hey Chris, I don't agree with the cuts to the arts either. I see Harper's cuts to the arts more of a idealogical one rather than a shift in priorities. People who have critical thinkinking skills don't buy his simplistic 'common sense' crap. If you look at the types of things that are getting scrapped it's documentary funding and the like. I don't think it has anything to do with funding issues.

    Having said that, it would be nice to see a few more teams in the league.
  5. Daniel Plainview from Canada writes: Shades of Grey- and what do you make of Dion doing the same with his 'Green Shi(f)t'?
  6. D. B. from Greater Sask., Canada writes: Touchdown, Harper!

    How on earth can a climate change plan, how on earth can action on health care, how on earth can, ahem, action to properly guide the economy- how can any of these things compare with money for a sports stadium in Quebec City!

    What a vapid, unimaginative gang we have in the Harper crew. I take heart in this latest uninspiring bid to buy votes- Mr. harper knows the election is anyone's game to win or lose, and he is using the only strategy he knows- spend money we don't have.

    Is Mr. harper really the one to guide us through these tough economic times?
  7. John Bladen from Ed-Land, Canada writes: ...and while we're on the subject of 'arts funding', why not scrap the federal contribution to Vancouver's Highway proj-oops, Olympics, and use the money to build an outdoor stadium in major centres all across the country? I bet more Canadian taxpayers would pay to watch football or soccer than can afford to turn up at the gong show in Vancouver in 2010... why are our tax dollars going to support an event only others can afford?

    And yes, shades of Grey, Harper is exactly that pathetic loser you spoke of... but the guy that gets me is Jason Kenny... he used to be head of the CTF and railed against any kind of gov't overspending, now he's the talking head telling us how great it all is and how it is actually good for all of us. What a pathetic liar. Please.
    Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
  8. Tom Wallace from Winnipeg, Canada writes: I'm speechless.
  9. Pat Billings from CDN, Canada writes: BMO field was built with tax money (federal, provincial and local), at least the Quebec stadium will be for Universite de Laval.
  10. D. B. from Greater Sask., Canada writes: Pat Billings: A 30,000 seat stadium for university sports? Oh, what does it matter. The stadium will likely not be built, whatever the outcome of the election.
  11. guy tozer from saskatoon, Canada writes: Yep........the vote buying lying has begun.
  12. D Wiatzka from Canada writes: I'd love to see another club in the east. Quebec City has a terrific football heritage and will be a much better location than Ottawa where (sadly) it seems they cannot enjoy a CFL franchise anymore.

    Compared to other major league season ticket costs, the CFL is a bargain! Last I checked, it was around $500 per season per seat for very good tickets!

    It'd be nice to have a franchise in the maritimes, too. The idea of getting in with the university is definitely the best for the CFL. Montreal's resurgence is largely due to the relationship with McGill.

    Seeing a game in a 20,000 to 25,000 seat stadium is SO much better than places like Skydome despite that being a fine building in and of itself. The intimacy of the smaller stadiums can't be beat and taking advantage of the existing amenities (bars, restaurants, transportation) around the universities is definitely the smart way to go.

    Hopefully Laval will see this as being a way to generate additional funding and interest in the university, too.

    Only concern is: will there be enough talent to go around to all the teams?
  13. Antonio San from Canada writes: Vote buying, beer and popcorn, muscle and commercials: Canada's new culture, and the games should replace classical music on CBC radio 2 while at it...
  14. Shades of Grey from Canada writes: Daniel Plainview from Canada writes: 'Shades of Grey- and what do you make of Dion doing the same with his 'Green Shi(f)t'?'

    Whether you agree with him or not Dion has a vision that includes incentives for reducing our oil dependency. He is not making promises that over the past two weeks include a bridge and CFL team (Quebec), subsidies for an auto plant that manufactures V8s (Ontario), additional funding for the Winter Olympics (BC) and geomapping and a new icebreaker (the north). Did I miss anything?

    Harper is spending money like a drunken sailor in a whorehouse. I don't see how any of this fits with a coordinated, economically responsible vision for Canada.
  15. D Wiatzka from Canada writes: Did you folks not read the article?

    The gov't funding is going to the university for all of its sports facilities REGARDLESS whether or not a CFL franchise becomes a tenant of the stadium. The G&M is twisting the news by connecting the infrastructure funding to the possible CFL franchise.

    'Laval University's current $85-million sports centre proposal includes the construction of an indoor soccer field on empty land next to the current football stadium. The city has announced it will inject $10-million in the project with the other $75-million coming from equal contributions from Ottawa and the province.'

    This is not the feds saying 'we'll give you money so you can have a CFL franchise'.
  16. David Noel from Sarnia, Canada writes: Yes siree....CFL in every city.

    Another kick in the groin from our elected officials. I love the idea of more football but why do we have to pay for it. Do we not have any buisness people in Canada anymore? If we do and they are not investing...well that should tell you something.
  17. Nelson C. from Toronto, Canada writes: Harper vote-buying spree notwithstanding... where are the Halifax and St. John's CFL franchises? I would think Halifax has enough people and money to have a pro sports team.. it would certainly be a shot in the arm to the local economy and tourism. Same goes for St. John's. THEN it would truly put the C in CFL.
  18. Howard Young from Canada writes: I would rather Quebec City bring back the Nordiques.
  19. D Wiatzka from Canada writes: Cripes, people - most of you appear to be Liberals or NDP'ers who are the same folks by my recollection who screamed the feds weren't doing enough for Quebec and Ontario during this time of economic downturn.

    So the feds put together funding as part of an overall investment fund for Quebec. Laval is getting some funding for upgrading their sports facilities. Doesn't that mean construction jobs and jobs in the facilities afterwards as well as the development of olympic atheletes as well as better facilities for students?

    BUT NOOOO - the G&M feeds you all this line of crap with their (once again) misleading headline that the only reason the money is going there is so Quebec City can get a CFL franchise.

    Do your research folks - the CFL franchise has little to nothing to do with the decision by the gov't years to do infrastructure spending in Quebec.

    AND what that money actually gets spent upon is being decided by the province and the university. The feds just ponied up the program where they will match what the province spends.

    So please - let's get over the bitterness and start talking about the facts. This isn't about CFL vs the arts.
  20. Andrew E from Canada writes: Will they stand for the CANADIAN Football league? I guess we could always call it the FLQ... you know, the Football League du Quebec... whaddaya think?
  21. Job Patstone from Quebec City, Canada writes: The feds are putting up money to refubish the sports arena at Laval University. This is a good thing, but yes it is an election ply.
    The stadium needs a revamping, but not necessarily for a CFL team. The soccer stadium is more important.
    I don't think Quebec City will support a CFL team. They would however support a NHL team. Hockey is the sport in Quebec City. The only reason Laval's football team is so successful, is because they win all the time. If they start losing, people will find something else to do, like watching hockey. The Remparts (junior hockey) get just as many spectators as Laval's football team, and it lasts all winter. If the elections were in January, Harper would probably offer to rebuild the Colisee, (hockey's arena), but it's fall and it's football season, so lets play ball. Next elections we can talk hockey. JP
  22. Hockey Fan from Halifax, Canada writes: To answer your question Nelson, no one in government has any vision and no private businesses/people are willing to put up any money, and it drives me crazy.

    With a population of 400,000 and lots of people outside of the city to draw on, Halifax could easily support a team.

    I wish our municipal election was about important issues like this (a new Metro Centre and/or football stadium), however today the debate is who is going to re-seed the Commons after a concern on caused some mud.

    Let's make the CFL a truly Canadian league.
  23. Cons Are Morons! Fact! from Canada writes: Grants? Where are the tax cuts that are the focal point of all development according to the Cons? I don't see any tax cuts. I see the Cons doling out taxpayers' dollars just like they are doing in Ontario. So, now Cons will agree that taxpayer grants to various groups are necessary in managing an economy and that tax cuts don't do anything to fight a recession?

    Tax and spend, Cons! Tax and spend, Cons!

    These losers are so pathetic and so utterly devoid of any principles or backbone that they would probably sell their grandmas to a brothel for a single vote .

    Tax and spend, Cons! Tax and spend, Cons!

    These losers have brought us back to deficit status and all that the average Canadian has received Con tax cuts is about 2 extra cases of beer a year.

    Tax and spend, Cons! Tax and spend, Cons!

    By the way, the politically influential arts community in Quebec will be very happy to hear that a Canadian Football League franchise is more important to Stephen Harper than Quebec's cultural scene. Yes, the Cons have declared Quebec to be a nation - a nation based on its CFL franchises, apparently.

    Tax and spend, Cons! Tax and spend, Cons!
  24. Shades of Grey from Canada writes: According to the National Post, a respected economist is predicting that the Cons will run a deficit of $6 billion this year.
  25. Rene L from Somewhere, Canada writes: D Wiatzka from Canada writes: Did you folks not read the article?

    The gov't funding is going to the university for all of its sports facilities REGARDLESS whether or not a CFL franchise becomes a tenant of the stadium. The G&M is twisting the news by connecting the infrastructure funding to the possible CFL franchise.
    --------------------------------------------------------
    D Wiatzka, give up... don't expect the majority on these boards to actually read and attempt to understand the salient points of an article. I've come to understand that the majority on here just want to elevate their self-worth by trashing others. You are especially out of luck for any reasonable discussion since this article is the perfect storm for the haters (i.e Quebec, politics, and $$).

    That being said, I truely hope the university can be convinced to revise its expansion plan - if private investors are willing to expand Laval's football stadium they would certainly benefit. I'm pretty sure Quebec City could average 20-23,000 per game.
  26. Iphigenia . from Aulis, Canada writes: Wouldn't they really rather have a hockey franchise?
    Now that the NHL has adapted the ground rules to help the smaller market teams, another Quebec Nordiques just might make a go of it.
  27. A Leading Edge Boomer from Canada writes: You guys. The 37.5 million of federal money for the Peps sport stadium was announced several months ago. This article is about some Quebec businessmen wanting to change the building plans so that they can accomodate a CFlLfranchise at Peps , should they get one. The Feds have said they will wWthraw the funding if the CFL is brought into the picture. They do not weant to be seen as subsidizing the CFL.

    This whole issue has nothing to do with election timing as the funds were committed months ago. It has nothing to do with influencing voting by bringing a CFL team to Quebec, as the feds have said the opposite. They wil withdraw funds if the stadium is built with the CFL in mind.
  28. diane marie from calgary, Canada writes: The CPC election fairy dust continues to shower down.
  29. Michael Bednarski from Toronto, Canada writes: Gotta love Conservative park-barrelling.
  30. Will Hoaccio from Canada writes: God damnit, there should be a law against any government spending in sports. At least when we have politicians pork barrel by, say, building bridges or upgrading ports we have something useful at the end of the day. Building football arenas (and it is always football arenas) so that some yokels can have a tail-gate party is just insane. Please, waste money responsibly.
  31. Will Hoaccio from Canada writes: And how do the separatists reconcile this? All sins forgiven if Harper names the stadium the Trudeau Stadium.
  32. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Mulroney Junior is at it again, I see ...

    After giving $47.5 Million to Mount Tremblant in 2007, Harper tries his luck with bribing Quebec yet again...

    Glad we got rid of those awful, Adscamming Liberanos, eh ?

    Cheers
  33. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: John Bladen from Ed-Land, Canada:

    Interesting to note that Jason Kenney was the head of the Canadian Taxpayer's Foundation (CTF) once upon a time.

    Harper also used to be head of the National Citizens Coalition whose motto is ironically, 'More freedom through less government.'

    It does seem that these guys decided to abandon all their former principles in the slim hopes of trying to win a majority government.

    I really don't think that Quebecers are that stupid, however.

    Cheers
  34. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Hockey Fan from Halifax:

    I would love to see a CFL franchise in Halifax and also believe that there is enough of a population to support it...

    However, the most likely reason that no corporations sponsor a CFL franchise in Halifax is probably that many of our current Atlantic Canadian corps don't really even pretend to do the corporate citizen thing...

    These companies traditionally have their captive Atlantic Canadian market and can treat the citizenry with contempt, but yet, claim that everyone should support their products since they are in Atlantic Canada... Some of the benefactors of these corporations have gone on to being some of the wealthiest people in the World.

    Just to give an example, Calgary based WestJet is one of the big sponsors of the Buskers festival in Halifax...

    Doesn't that strike you as a bit odd ?

    Time to let in some free competition into our hamlet ?

    Cheers
  35. Bobby Dy from Canada writes: Sounds like the same kind of public-private partnership that the CPC have been promoting.
  36. Patricia Timms from Canada writes: None enjoy sports more than I.

    Have played HIGH level (pro) sports most of my early life.
    And I would be delighted to see Quebec (and Halifax) with a CFL franchise but in the end it is only a game.

    Only a Boys game played by a few Men, often termed hero's better than most other ordinary men.

    There are more important things to pay tribute to than mere sports. Like the lives of our 'Real Heroes' that have fallen in far off lands. Let not the minority viewpoints (in this paper) control the majority, through censorship, and by fear of controversity stop the saddened vast majority that wish to pay honour to our sons and daughters. The real heroes.

    Good luck to you LAVAL, except when you play Acadia U.
  37. SL S from Saskatchewan, Canada writes: This would be a great time for Moose Jaw to ask for some money for their multiplex project.
  38. Fred McEwen from Ajax, Canada writes: The headline reads 'pre-election vote-buying' and it is appalling that the sports facility is entirely paid by taxes.

    It is perhaps more appalling that a conservative government supposedly in favour of public-private collaborations has rejected the 100% PRIVATE ADDITIONAL money needed to have the facilty be capable of serving a wider range of uses. But then it might have had to delay the announcement until after the illegal election.
  39. Piet F from Canada writes: Wow. I can't believe this is being funded entirely through tax. I attended a small university in the early part of this decade and we funded the construction of a football field and renovation of the gym/athletics facilities entirely through an annual student levy. We raised enough to get this done without fed/prov/local input.

    Usually I get annoyed by people who whine and complain about the use of their precious taxpayer dollars - but this really is ridiculous! I can't think of any other university who is having their sports facilities rebuilt entirely funded by government.

    Harper must be a bit scared of those poll results in Quebec in advance of this election.

    Meanwhile - if they are going to spend all this money - surely they should build it so it can at least be converted to CFL specs. The short sightedness of these politicians is baffling.
  40. What's up with the un-human-like gap between Harper's eyes? from Calgary, Canada writes: .

    Quebec is making a killing from the Harpo government!

    Funny how all those Alberta anti-French bigots are completely quiet on this issue.

    LOL!!!
  41. Josh C. from Canada writes: This is the last time I frustrate myself by reading the idiot commenters at the Globe and Mail, most of whom don't even bother reading the articles they're writing about.
  42. Farm Boy from Belfast, United Kingdom writes: The mayor of Laval would be surprised to read this headline. Oh, but it's not Laval, the city just north of Montreal, it's the University of Laval which is in Quebec City.
  43. D. Patrick from Gonzoville, Canada writes: A Quebec City CFL team would do more for the Federalist cause in the province than any of the sponsorship or other Fed spending initiatives designed to raise the Canadian flag there. This is looking like a beau risque but a lost opportunity (for now at least). As a small government free market economist, I'm reluctant to plug for intervention in sport, but on nation building and national unity criterion, the CFL is a great low cost initiative with good payback. Show some imagination here Mr Sports Minister!
  44. M Poland from Calgary, Canada writes: So ... I guess all you tw@ts that railed against the Feds subsidizing sports are man enough to apologize? [you too, Diane Marie] yeah, I thought not. As noted above, this money was announced some time ago; how can anybody be against infrastructure money; yes, even to Quebec? Athletic facilities for amateurs should be upgraded, all the way. I would rather that the government spent money on this than on meat dresses and the like.
  45. D. Patrick from Gonzoville, Canada writes: Dianne Marie, is there ever a topic on which you cannot find partisan spin or an ideological prism? High marks for consistency though.
  46. My Humble Opinion from Canada writes: of course conservatives would not support this. They are too pro american. Now ask them to support the nfl and they would get down on their hands and knees.

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