More Municipal News
Wow, I'm on a bit of a roll this week. Today I want to talk about the plans for a new Ottawa Congress Centre.
Right now, for convention capacity, Ottawa is currently on par with Red Deer and Moncton. I don't know about everyone else, but I find that unacceptable for our nation's capital. The tear down and buildup of a new congress centre would now have is competing with Winnipeg and Quebec City instead. It's not ideal, but it's a lot better. Not to mention the fact that the current concrete eyesore attached to the Rideau Centre would blossom into a beautiful glass structure worthy of flanking the Rideau Canal.
The provincial and federal governments have already approved an increase in their initial funding for the project from 30 to 50 million dollars each. They expect the city to cough up an extra 15 million and some councillors, seeing how we are in a budget crunch, are hesitant.
I get that. There a proposed cuts on the table and you'd rather keep those services than give money to a convention centre. Problem is this is not a problem that will go away and it will simply cost more money in the future if the city doesn't deal with it now. Plus, even though the city might not be getting a lot of money back from the centre, the boom it will create to the tourism industry (and all other related entertainment industries) is undeniable.
Seriously, just increase my damn taxes already.
Right now, for convention capacity, Ottawa is currently on par with Red Deer and Moncton. I don't know about everyone else, but I find that unacceptable for our nation's capital. The tear down and buildup of a new congress centre would now have is competing with Winnipeg and Quebec City instead. It's not ideal, but it's a lot better. Not to mention the fact that the current concrete eyesore attached to the Rideau Centre would blossom into a beautiful glass structure worthy of flanking the Rideau Canal.
The provincial and federal governments have already approved an increase in their initial funding for the project from 30 to 50 million dollars each. They expect the city to cough up an extra 15 million and some councillors, seeing how we are in a budget crunch, are hesitant.
I get that. There a proposed cuts on the table and you'd rather keep those services than give money to a convention centre. Problem is this is not a problem that will go away and it will simply cost more money in the future if the city doesn't deal with it now. Plus, even though the city might not be getting a lot of money back from the centre, the boom it will create to the tourism industry (and all other related entertainment industries) is undeniable.
Seriously, just increase my damn taxes already.
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posted by Nancy Kenny at
10:17 AM
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