REGINA - With both Saskatoon and Regina looking at potential new downtown arenas in the future, the question now is whether the province or the Feds might also get on board with funding.
Premier Scott Moe was asked that question Wednesday in Regina, coincidentally on the same day that city council in Saskatoon was discussing their proposed Downtown Events and Entertainment Centre.
Regina is also looking at a potential new arena as well as a new Aquatic Centre and other projects. Moe acknowledged there were even more projects than that, including Prince Albert also looking to replace one of their arenas.
While he seemed supportive, Moe stopped short of making any funding commitments for any of the projects — at least not yet.
Moe said the province was “always open to engaging with the municipal governments on recreational infrastructure, it’s part of the very quality of life and contributes to the quality of life in our major urban centres.”
But Moe asked that the “third partner” — that being the federal government — “come to the table as well through a robust infrastructure program that first addresses each of the growing communities that we have, not just housing but some of the infrastructure that supports new neighbourhoods. And two, that supports the quality of life in our communities as well, like recreational infrastructure here in Regina, like a swimming pool and an aquatic centre, as well as arenas in Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert.”
Moe said that a common thread among all the proposals is that they were recreation facilities. The second, he said, is that these arenas would have been unable to qualify for the previous Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, because their main hockey tenants were WHL teams which were being regarded as “professional” leagues.
“That program would’ve gone by the wayside, but we would’ve seen that in an application here as well,” said Moe.
Moe had also pointed out this arena funding has traditionally been available from the federal government. He pointed to Building Canada funding for the Moose Jaw Events Centre, whose main tenant is the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. Reporters were unable to pin down Moe on whether the province itself would commit to funding the projects, or go along with proposed legislative changes being sought by municipalities.
To help fund their downtown events centre, the City of Saskatoon has proposed an accommodation tax on hotels and motels, but that would need changes to the provincial Cities Act to go ahead.
When asked to how willing the province would be in cooperating with some of Saskatoon‘s asks such as the proposed hotel tax levy and surcharge, Moe responded that there would be “discussions with all three communities.”
But he insisted that his initial high-level ask at this point was for the federal government to come forward with funding.
“We always will work with our municipalities. I’m not going to preclude what the answers to some of those questions might be, but the answers would be a lot more straightforward and streamlined with all the partners at the table, willing to invest in Saskatchewan cities, in Saskatchewan families.”
