Edmonton councillor questions Calgary arena funding, Smith hints at Ice District Phase 2 dollars

Rogers Place and the surrounding Ice District didn't get any provincial government funding a decade ago and some are calling into question the timing of Calgary’s announcement.

On Tuesday, Premier Danielle Smith announced an arena and events centre deal for Calgary that sees $330 million in provincial money go towards that project.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said his city is happy for Calgary, but noted Edmonton’s Rogers Place and surrounding Ice District didn’t get any provincial government funding a decade ago.

“We asked the province for support and we were told we were not getting any,” said Sohi, who was a city councillor at the time.

Current Edmonton city councillor Andrew Knack questions the Calgary plan.

“Right now, municipalities across the province, not just the City of Edmonton, have massive infrastructure needs and this feels very much like a one-off,” he said.

More than one-third of Edmonton’s downtown arena project is funded through tax increment financing, also known as a community revitalization levy (CRL).

The Government of Alberta introduced Community Revitalization Levies to help cities and towns stimulate activity and economic growth in under-developed areas in their communities.

With a CRL, once an arena location is chosen, a city maps out an area that would reap the economic spin-offs from the facility.