My bet is that he was using notes provided by the team. Isn't that how it usually works with a team's media people?
Because of the downturn in the oil patch (Some former oil types I know use the word "crash") the city doesn't have the resources it once did so it can't be as business-friendly as people would hope. Our taxes have been going up steadily in recent years and a publicly funded arena would only send them higher. I have no idea why city leaders want to bid on an Olympics. They seem to have lost their minds when it comes to that. It's impossible to say if the other candidates for Mayor would have spent public money. Bill Smith, for one refused to speak publicly on where he stood on a new arena. He also refused to release his donor list (Something Nenshi did early in the campaign). And then his name was put up in lights on the Saddledome jumbotron at a Flames game just prior to the election.
I don't know if there even needs to be negotiations at this point. There's a good letter in this morning's Calgary Herald asking if a new arena is even necessary. The writer says that the Saddledome is still selling out so there's no real pressure to build a new one. The existing arena continues to serve fans so why change?
For me it all boils down to why should my tax dollars go towards lining the pockets of people who can easily build a new arena themselves? I don't think that's silly at all and I resent a journalist bought and paid for by those rich guys telling me that I'm somehow wrong in thinking that those tax dollars should be spent on more important services.
