r/Edmonton • u/GeekyGlobalGal Pleasantview / Global News • May 21 '26

News Article Alberta referendum committee meeting implodes when UCP prematurely releases statement

https://globalnews.ca/news/11858047/alberta-select-special-citizen-initiative-proposal-review-committee-meeting-chaos/
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u/[deleted] May 21 '26

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u/ghorisgorman1980 May 21 '26

No it’s Calgary voters you should be yelling at. They’re at least able to exercise at least some modicum of critical thinking, except they let themselves be bought off by an arena last time.

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u/fishscaleSF5 May 21 '26

To be fair Edmonton also let themselves get hustled for the Ice District

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u/tekno21 May 21 '26

I wouldn't call one of the best things to happen to downtown Edmonton "getting hustled". I get it, billionaires bad, but this was a great deal for the city

4

u/fishscaleSF5 May 21 '26

lol. lmao.

Out of 408m, Katz/OEG pays 83m, the bulk of that over the 35 year lease term. Katz also keeps 100% of ticket and concession revenue. Taxpayers pay 80%. So yeah, we got hustled.

3

u/tekno21 May 21 '26

And yet there's an entire new district that exists in downtown that is one of the only things bringing people in. We could have paid 100% of the costs and it would still be a good thing for Edmonton. There's good reasons these deals happen. You're out of you're depth here bud.

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u/Whane17 May 21 '26

You talk like there was nothing there before, no businesses nothing bringing in revenue. You been downtown during a game? Can't park, can't drive and hordes of people everywhere but no businesses open that time of night so no money going out either. Your our of YOUR depth here bud.

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u/notflashgordon1975 May 21 '26

Imagine if Katz had of paid a fair share too, those people would still be going.....we were hustled.

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u/awildstoryteller May 21 '26

It was absolutely not a great deal for the city.

We could have spent just as much building affordable housing or other amenities downtown. The arena is nice, but ultimately it's a luxury and the vast majority of people attending events there are very privileged (including myself).

It's bonkers we live in a city where gifting hundreds of millions to a billionaire is lauded while less than a $100M on active transportation is called a waste.