ottawa senators lobbying provincial, federal governments for lebreton flats arena funding
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the ottawa senators have a team off the ice lobbying federal and provincial governments for funds to help pay the hefty price tag for a new arena at lebreton flats, the ottawa citizen has learned.
the citizen has confirmed that the senators have hired strategycorp. inc., a toronto-based lobbying firm led by aidan grove-white, so the organization can engage with representatives of the federal and provincial governments on behalf of the national hockey league team to help cover the costs of a new home for the club.
the senators and the national capital commission announced in mid-august that they have reached an agreement for the purchase and sale of land parcels totalling approximately 11 acres at lebreton flats. the citizen has reported that the senators have agreed to pay $37 million for the land when the sale is complete, which could be early in the new year.
the government of canada’s lobbying website states that six different representatives from strategycorp, including grove-white, have registered with federal government officials four times since oct. 31, including as recently as two weeks ago.
the senators confirmed in a statement to the citizen on monday that they have hired strategycorp to work on the club’s behalf.
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“strategycorp has been retained by the developer to communicate with the government to keep them informed about the transformative residential, commercial, and entertainment destination project planned for lebreton flats and its benefits for the ottawa region, province, and country,” the club said.
grove-white was part of a three-person team from strategycorp that registered on oct. 31 to represent capital sports development inc. (csdi). he was accompanied by colleagues alex bernst and susan ong. it says in their profiles that they want to discuss “policies and programs.”
“capital sports development inc. (csdi) is engaging with the federal government on a plan to revitalize downtown ottawa with a world-class mixed-use event centre and entertainment district at lebreton flats as the catalyst,” strategycorp stated in its purpose for the meetings.
under the subject matter, it was stated that strategycorp intended to speak with representatives of aboriginal affairs, budget, economic development, housing, infrastructure, municipalities, sports, taxation and finance, tourism, and transportation.
“the lobbyist has set up or expects to arrange one or more meetings on behalf of the client between a public office holder and any other person in the course of this undertaking,” the form said.
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but parliament hill isn’t the only stop that strategycorp has made. the provincial government must also play a role.
the construction of the new arena, the ice district around it — which is expected to include a new hotel — plus new, affordable housing, will create thousands of jobs during the building process alone, which is why both the federal government and the province could contribute to this project.
then, there are also the long-term economic benefits to the country, province and the city of ottawa of having the senators downtown in a vibrant neighbourhood.
three representatives of strategycorp inc. originally registered to lobby on behalf of csdi with the province of ontario in april. the trio then updated its application in mid-july.
the organization stated that their client’s business is a “major events centre and entertainment district development.”
the form on the provincial government’s website states that strategycorp’s discussions with ontario officials are around the financial participation in the new rink.
“discussions with the government regarding arena eligibility for infrastructure financing and other government programs,” grove-white said.
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officials from strategycorp stated they would request meetings with government officials from the following ministries: economic development, job creation and trade, finance, infrastructure, intergovernmental affairs, treasury board secretariat and tourism, culture and gaming.
the ontario government does have funding programs in place that could allow it to play a role in building a new rink.
the building ontario fund was set up to help make infrastructure projects a reality. in the most recent budget, the ford government raised its commitment from $3 billion to $8 billion.
“the building ontario fund works with trusted institutional investors and indigenous partners to close a financing gap and enable priority infrastructure projects to move from vision to reality,” the government states on its website.
the new arena in calgary is being built in a partnership that includes the city and the province of alberta. the cost is north of $1.2 billion, which is being funded by 27% by the province, along with $537 million from the city and another $356 million from the owners of the flames.
the senators have stated publicly that they will not be asking city of ottawa taxpayers for money.
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it’s believed senators owner michael andlauer would like a similar structure to the arena deal here. he told reporters in september that government relations firms had been speaking with officials on the club’s behalf.
“people need to understand this is not my arena. this is ottawa’s arena, and i don’t need to own it. to me, i want to do something special that is going to be special for this community,” andlauer said.
the expectation is that the final sale of the land will be completed as early as next month and that the organization has worked on concepts for design in the past six months that will be forwarded to all three levels of government, including the city of ottawa, for approvals in the near future.
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