LOL Flag, doing the watermelon head thing is something I need to do yet :lol:
PHILIP CROUCHER WITH FILES FROM ALEX BOUTILIER
METRO HALIFAX
Published: September 22, 2010
Coun. Sue Uteck says today’s expected announcement about the Uteck Bowl leaving Halifax for Moncton is “a wake-up call? to our city.
“It says to Halifax, you can no longer sit on your laurels and think that, ‘Just because we’re Halifax, the event will come to us.’ It’s no longer the case,? she said.
“This had become a destination event and if we don’t smarten up and do something, Moncton will be the destination event (city).?
Uteck calls the Canadian Interuniversity Football semifinal named after her late husband Larry Uteck “our mini Grey Cup.?
That will now change.
Atlantic University Sport is holding a press conference in Moncton today where it’s expected the New Brunswick city’s new $20-million outdoor stadium will serve as the game’s host for 2011.
“It comes down to a monetary issue and, obviously, they saw more seats in (Moncton’s) stadium than they did down here,? said Mayor Peter Kelly, who was unaware this decision was coming.
“It’s a business decision that they made and, unfortunately, it looks like that for (2011).?
Uteck said Halifax needs a new medium-sized outdoor stadium, in the range of 20,000 to 25,000 seats.
“Huskies Stadium is no longer suitable as a venue,? Uteck said. “And you can’t blame Saint Mary’s. They need help with funding.?
That may have been the case a decade or so ago but now days the current city council and mayor are killing Saskatoon. During the summer in Saskatoon there used to be lots to do with special events every week but those days are long gone. The gangs have taken over Saskatoon and the local police dept is pretty much useless. Just this spring I found a teen shot and laying in the middle of the street and then had to wait 40 minutes before the ambulance even got there. Regina has cleaned up their city fairly well over the last 20 years Saskatoon on the other hand has been in a steady decline.
Guess I'm glad I didn't apply for a second time for a job at Univ Saskatchewan, and with the housing prices out there, Hamilton is a better deal even with a lower paying job. The 2 days I spent in Saskatoon were great, took a nice long walk on the river and seemed like a nice town, but it's a long way away from anything, that's for sure.
really? I hadn’t noticed the decline in saskatoon so much but have seen an improvement in Regina.
Certainly good news for Regina but too bad for Saskatoon. really too bad if what you say is true.
Overall I like the province and its populace quite a bit and my jibes are not to be taken too seriously. i’ll stop doing that.
Halifax needs a stadium badly. Husky stadium is falling apart, why not try to do it right and build a stadium that could be used by the Huskies, a possible new team at Dalhousie and a future CFL team?
The fact the mayor says he was unaware of this is pretty laughable and makes Halifax look like a city with no leadership or vision.
The only saving grace is that, this may actually force Halifax to build a stadium...if not, good night.
Get this... the mayor and his buddies are in the process of pushing a three hundred million dollars trade centre yes
300 000 000.00
on a city of 350 000 people !
So for my family alone that would represent 4000.00 in plus interest contribution.
Yet they have done everything in their power to destroy any stadium project worth a fraction of that and then our idiot mayor claims it is a total surprise that they lose the Uteck bowl. This is the same guy who was surprisded when the downtown harbour was flooded with excrements from a brand new 55 million dollar sewage plant that they almost destroyed cause they refuse to man the plant on weekends ! They just raised our taxes through the nose (costs me 75.00 a month for fresh water to my house !), raised sales tax 2 percent and raised energy costs 40 percent in the last 3 years and they want to borrow 300 million dollars...
Halifax is the poster child for parasitic economy.
My message to Mark Cohon don't waste your time with Halifax and a change of mayor won't help either, just work with Moncton for the next five years and everything will fall into place there. :thup:
:roll: A rant is more convincing when the basic facts are right.
According to today's Chronicle Herald the cost of the Halifax convention centre is pegged at $160m Proposed contributions to the project: City $57m, Province $57m, Feds $46m.
Compared to the $500m to $1 billion the CWG was projected to cost, this is a pretty reasonable investment in the city by the three levels of government. And it also looks pretty reasonable compared to a $400m+ stadium in Regina (a city roughly half the size of Halifax)
According to Statcan, Halifax has 398,000 people So not only did you exaggerate the cost of the project, but you also misrepresented the size of Halifax. The correct government cost per Haligonian is $160m/398,000 = $402 per person.
You'll also see that Moncton has a population of 133,900. Moncton's stadium cost $20m for 10,000 permanent seats. Thats $2,000 per seat. Lets assume that after expansion to CFL size, it still costs $2,000 per seat. That means a 25,000 seat stadium will cost $50m. Cost per Monctonian is $50m/133,900 = $373 per person.
So HfxTC, are you against expanding the Moncton Stadium? Or do you think that $373 per person a good use of tax dollars, while $402 per person is a excessively expensive?
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts." - Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
I am for spending money you have and against spending money you don't have. I know that's old fashion 
Moncton 1 million dollar surplus.
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/05/18/nb-moncton-budget-surplus-1030.html?ref=rss]http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/ ... ml?ref=rss[/url]Halifax 30 million dollar deficit
[url=http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2010/03/25/halifax-regional-municipality-debates-projected-30-million-budget-shortfall]http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/arc ... -shortfall[/url]“If we were $30 million in the hole last year, and we had to make all the cuts we did, what do you think $57 million will do?? asks councillor Dawn Sloane. “If it looks like it’s too rich for our blood, then I’ll have to pass. And I’m one who thinks we need a new convention centre. But we need a lot of things. We need a stadium, or a partnership with a university on a stadium, we need a cultural arts centre, we need an aquarium on the waterfront. But if we don’t get tax reform, where the suburbs are paying their full share, then this will bankrupt the downtown.?The city has recently embarked on two large capital projects---the $50 million central library downtown and the $41 million four-pad arena in Bedford---that have stretched HRM’s debt policies. During a recent budget update given to council, finance director Cathie O’Toole warned that incurring additional debt might affect the city’s credit rating, leading to increased costs for borrowing.
But hey keep borrowing and raising taxes. I am going to go do business with those people over there who know how to count ...
Fair enough, but what about this...
NS has a bigger economy, a bigger population but a smaller deficit. (To be fair NS also has a bigger provincial debt, but NB is doing a great job of catching up)
How big a stadium can Moncton build with that $1 million? 
The argument that it will cost money to build a stadium is a red herring. It takes an investment, but that money is recovered over time in the form of taxes.
Building a stadium is about revitalization and attracting businesses to the surrounding community. It's not an expense.
But Tommy, it is 1 million more than Halifax has and on top of that they are also 10 000 seats ahead of halifax.
Which city looks better with those two points and I did not have to go to stats can to figure that one out. LOL
Truth is I wanted Halifax to get a CFL team for 20 years and still nothing. I am not about to wait 20 more years for the Schooners to finally say "we are here"
Moncton has the ball right now and even though they are 15000 seats shy of a CFL stadium, I believe that they are the city to cheer for in this race.
I was in Moncton for the game and I can tell you there is the political will to get a team.
That my friends may be the most important factor unlike Halifax which has been dithering for years with their tree hugging anti sport politicians.
I have been to both places and hands down Moncton is way ahead and they will get a team.
I think this is the difference. Halifax has kind of been dithering along forever on this, whereas Moncton has a "can do" attitude right now. It's got the positive energy that comes from being a fast growing city.
If you're only looking at the government side of it, Moncton has to have the edge simply because the government WANTS to get it done and has shown they can make big projects happen. Halifax just doesn't have that momentum right now.
What about Halifax aging population ? Total lack of corporate interest (economy is government driven) as opposed to Moncton's entrepreneurial economy.
Moncton is a much better location to put a CFL team if you want to brand it as a "regional team" IE: Saskatchewan.
what does tree-hugging have to do with anything?
im somewhat of a tree-hugger, and i want stadiums for all.
i dont see how the 2 are related.
They have gone on record of being anti sport.
From what I have also read about their politics, it is of a socialist type mantra.
Okay then, what does having a socialist mantra have to do with tree hugging? I am right of centre person myself who is very much a tree hugger. I am sick of people who use these stupid labels with out having a clue as to what they mean to describe people who just happen to have a differing opinion.
If you're going to give credit to Moncton for getting a $20 million stadium "big project" done, then you have to consider that in the same period, Halifax has built a $40 million 4-pad arena and the $40 million Canada Games Centre.
Halifax can make "big projects" happen just as well as Moncton. Unless by "big project" you only mean stadium.
Anti-sport? Those "anti-sport" politicians are behind both those projects, one of which is being built for the 2011 Canada Winter Games. They are also building a temporary refrigerated speed skating oval on the Mainland Commons for the games.
I'm sure that the anti-Halifax crowd are inclined to crow about the temporary nature of the oval. But there has never before been a refrigerated oval for the Canada Winter Games. As a result, long track speed skating has routinely been cancelled due to weather.
And say what you want about the 2014 Comonwealth Games debacle, but an anti-sport city or city council would never have expressed interest, let alone won the rights to be Canada's candidate.
Now if you want to say that HRM council is anti-stadium, anti-football or anti-professional sports, you'll have a slightly more defensible position. But to say anti-sport shows that you're clearly out of your element.
OK how about anything but hockey anti sport socialist mentality.