Up until now the local publicly owned Convention Centre was owned and operated by the province as it is in Toronto Ont. Suddenly things have changed in HRM.
I recently read that HRM will be directly involved in the new one. My first question was why. With all the work we need done on the sewers, roads and the sewage treatment plant just to mention a few things badly in need of attention that fall directly under the City’s mandate why are they getting involved in this venture?
As I read further more questions came up and I would like some answers to them.I read where it was a P3 type deal involving all three levels of government and the private sector. Listed were the one time limited donations from Ottawa and Nova Scotia but nothing about a limited donation from HRM and nothing about how much private business will donate. 1. How much will private business donate and who will supply the main check book that will guarantee all costs not covered by the other partners. 2. Who will cover cost over runs? 3. Who will operate it and take any profits? 4. Who will underwrite the deficits annually?
5. Why do we need a new convention centre? The one we have requires annual inputs of cash why do we need a bigger one with bigger operating costs and new, greater debts? This is nothing more than the province downloading it’s responsibilities onto the HRM home owner again like John Savage did with enforced amalgamation.
How do we tell Peter Kelly and his council (so that they will listen) that people have enough economic problems without them squandering hundreds of millions on something like this.
— Bruce
This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.
we need a convention center to hold conventions in. Big conventions for a wide varity of reasons. to actually attract people to HRM. I think HRM should be interested in that. The project will generate hundreads of construction jobs for people currently on EI. That traslates into reallocation of funds and stimulates the local enonomy.
Our taxes I expect will pay for it. But it is us after all that will benefit from it, when people in town for conventions spend mone at our shops, in our restaurants and on our newspapers.
Rafiki
We, the rate payers of HRM, will see nothing but the bills from this deal. Also I don’t think, after this melt down, you’re going to see the big conventions again like in the past. People are fed up with government and business squandering their money on things like this. The province will gain from this through sales tax, booze tax and taxes on smokes the city will get nothing let the province pay for it as they do in the other provinces that’s all.
This letter was in the Chronically Horrid today. The OP sure gets around…
yes we do have lots of conventions coming up. quite a few big ones. one very big one in 2011. and What differance does it make if the city or the province pays for it? your federal taxes, provincial tax, municipal tax, your still paying for it. personally, you may end up forking over fifty cents for this project in taxes if the city ends up taking the cost.