Mason calls on PCs to come clean on arena funding

September 29, 2011

Alberta’s NDP Opposition leader Brian Mason says the PC government must own up to the fact they plan to give $100 million in provincial tax dollars to fund an NHL arena in Edmonton.

“The PCs can’t skate away from this one. We have a city councillor on the record saying he’s been given assurances provincial money will come through,” Mason says. “It’s time the PCs started being honest so Albertans can judge their spending priorities.”

The PC government needs to take a hard stand against giving any provincial money to an arena that will primarily serve an NHL club that makes millions in profits.

“I’d rather see that $100 million used to reverse this year’s education cuts, or used for publicly accessible infrastructure like LRT. I’ll put kids before a billionaire team owner any day,” Mason says. “The PCs don’t represent the people’s priorities and cannot be trusted with Albertans’ tax dollars.”