Alberta election could have major ramifications for Flames arena deal

The upcoming Alberta provincial election could have a significant impact on the future home of the Calgary Flames. 

The writ officially dropped Monday, meaning Albertans will go to the polls May 29 to determine if the incumbent United Conservative Party (UCP) and Danielle Smith will form another government, or if the New Democrat Party (NDP), led by former premier Rachel Notley, will lead again after being in power from 2015 to 2019.

Currently, of the 87 seats in the Alberta legislature, the UCP has 60 while the NDP has 23.

Smith, Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek, Calgary Sports and Entertainment (CSEC) president John Bean, and several past and present Flames were at the Saddledome last Tuesday to announce a new arena deal.

Unlike the previous $550 million agreement (which was negotiated in 2019 and collapsed in 2021 over cost increases that amounted to under $30 million) this new, $1.2 billion deal has $330 million of provincial funding.

The big caveat to last Tuesday’s announcement is that it cannot be approved until after the election.

“There’s still one more hurdle ahead of us,” Smith said, at the announcement. “After the election, the province’s contribution to this arena deal must be approved by provincial cabinet and the treasury board before the end of summer.

“That’s why on May 29, I’m hoping Calgarians give our UCP government a clear mandate to proceed with this arena deal.” 

With the UCP maintaining strong support in the rural parts of the province and the NDP having a stranglehold on Edmonton, the party that wins the most seats in Calgary will likely form government.

The arena deal could become one of the biggest issues this election, both in terms of taxpayer investment in a privately owned business and in the revitalization of Calgary’s downtown, which has been hit hard by both the pandemic and oil companies downsizing or leaving the city altogether in recent years. 

“[Smith] wants to make it a campaign issue,” said Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary. “This is all about the election…this is a clear election bribe…for this city.”

Under the previous agreement, CSEC and the city split the costs roughly 50-50. With the new, larger agreement, which includes a practice facility and a land exchange with the Calgary Stampede, the city will contribute $537 million while CSEC will add $356 million. Taxpayers will now pay over 70 per cent of the total $1.22 billion project cost.

“Politicians should not be hitting up the taxpayer to bank roll arenas for big-league sports teams,” said Kris Sims, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “The costs for this project ballooned quickly last time around and there’s a huge risk taxpayers will [be] hit with runaway bills on this project.”

Notley has alleged that there are parts of the agreement that are being kept secret from Albertans, including the possibility of exclusive land development options for Flames ownership around the new arena district. 

"We got secrecy and we've got game playing and it's disrespectful to Alberta voters,” Notley said.

The UCP denied those claims, writing to CTV Edmonton that they were “untrue.”

Previously as Wildrose Party leader and a radio host, Smith strongly opposed provincial government funding for NHL arenas, including Edmonton’s Rogers Place in 2012.

"We would not provide funding to a new arena in Edmonton,” she said during that year’s election campaign.

With Tuesday’s announcement, Edmontonians might now ask if the province will contribute to that city’s district. Rogers Place opened in 2016 and cost $483.5 million for the arena while the entire project cost $613.7 million.

The city contributed $226 million of that amount, Oilers ownership $132.5 million, and the rest was covered in a ticket surcharge. The province did not contribute anything to its construction, saying at the time that they give cities infrastructure money to spend at their discretion.

Smith recognized that reaction and wrote on Friday that she wants to be an “equitable and fair partner” with the city and team and support it during the next stage of its downtown development. The Oilers also released a statement, saying they want to work with the provincial government “to identify opportunities for similar investment and support.”

“The Edmonton-Calgary rivalry is not just Oilers-Flames or Stampeders-Elks,” Bratt said. “It is political as well. How do you tell [Oilers owner] Daryl Katz or [Edmonton] Mayor [Amarjeet] Sohi, ‘You guys have to cover it yourself, but we’ve got extra money for Calgary.’”

According to a ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc. poll of 789 Albertans released Monday, 50 per cent of respondents disapproved of the new event centre agreement, while 43 per cent approved and seven per cent were undecided. Fifty per cent of Calgarians surveyed approved the deal, while 45 per cent disapproved. In Edmonton, 33 per cent approved and 61 per cent disapproved.

One of the biggest questions is what will happen to the deal if the NDP forms government. Notley has not committed one way or another beyond saying that she and the public need more details about the agreement.

The NDP has struggled in Calgary, holding just three of 26 seats in the city. By contrast, the NDP has 19 of 20 seats in Edmonton. Bratt commended Smith for boxing in Notley with the provincial funding announcement. 

“If the NDP had come out and opposed it, it would have looked like they were anti-Calgary,” he said. “Likewise, if they supported it, I think the idea was, ‘See, they’re just following the lead of the UCP. They couldn’t do this on their own.’”

With most polls showing a tight race, the election and who forms Alberta’s next government might ultimately come down to how Calgarians feel about significant taxpayer funds going towards a new arena for the Flames.

“That’s the question,” Bratt said. “What is going to be the attitude of non-hockey fans? Are they going to see this as giving taxpayer money for billionaires that employ millionaires?”