Calgary mayoral candidates far apart on Flames arena, releasing donor lists

As he seeks a third term as Calgary mayor, Naheed Nenshi is challenging some of his main opponents when it comes to the city’s offer to the Calgary Flames about a new arena and releasing donor lists.

“You’ve got to tell people who is backing you, you’ve got to tell people who you’re working for and for heaven’s sakes, you’ve got to tell people how you’re going to spend billions of dollars of money, I think that’s kind of important,” Nenshi said on Monday.

Nomination Day for the upcoming Calgary election ended with 131 candidates vying for mayor, councillor and school trustee positions, with the official list of candidates being released Tuesday.

Over the last week, the arena debate has dominated the headlines after the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation announced it was ending negotiations with the city, calling talks with the other side “spectacularly unproductive.”

This led to Nenshi releasing details of what the city made to the team, which included offering one-third of the cost upfront, which would have to be repaid either through property tax, rent, revenue-sharing or equity.

The other thirds of a Victoria Park arena would be funded by a ticket surcharge and by the Flames themselves, who would also receive full revenue from the arena.

“It’s only an election issue until every candidate says where they stand, and pretty much all but one of the candidates have said where they stand,” Nenshi said.

When first asked about the offer last Wednesday, mayoral candidate Bill Smith said he needed a better look once all the details were released, which they were on Friday morning.

When asked about it again on Monday, he still didn’t have a position.

“There’s still a lot more to be looked at with respect to that offer and I think one of the things I’m waiting to see is where the Flames sit on this,” he said.

Smith was pressed on the issue, including being asked if the offer was fair.

At first, he said no, but then clarified.

“I shouldn’t say no, I should say I’d like to see what the Flames think their deal would look like,” he said. “You want to see something come back to Calgarians absolutely, but an arena is a gathering place for Calgarians, there’s lots of things that go along with that.”

Smith said the main point he is going to put to Calgarians is asking them if they want four more years of the same leadership.

Cllr. Andre Chabot, also running for mayor, said Nenshi made the arena an election issue but doesn’t believe property tax dollars should be used to finance the facility.

“The city’s offer was reasonable, I think there’s still an opportunity to discuss further as to the mechanism for payback,” he said.

Chabot reiterated what he’s been pushing since he first announced he was running, which is to get Calgary’s financial house in order.

DONOR LISTS

Nenshi is also challenging his opponents to release their donor lists, which he said he would be doing later on Monday.

“This is not a big money campaign,” he said. “They are proud to have their names on that list.

“If you haven’t revealed the names of your donors, no one should vote for you.”

But Chabot said he’s already made commitments to his donors that he wouldn’t because he respects their requests to stay anonymous.

As Chabot mentioned, candidates are not legally required to disclose their donors until after the election.

“I might reveal my entire list, with the exception of those few who said not,” he said. “Out of respect of those individuals and the same with citizens, I believe people deserve respect and if they ask for it, I’m willing to give it to them.”

Smith said he hadn’t made a decision.

“We haven’t even considered it, we’ll talk about that as we get closer and once we get some donations in,” he said. “We’ll decide that as we get closer to the end of the campaign.”