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In the end, it was an 11-4 blowout in favour of building a $550-million new event centre and NHL arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Half the city is happy, the rest furious. So it is with these projects.

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Yes, I’m happy too, if only because I’ll get to crow about a great arena to the Edmonton relatives.

By the time ours is built, theirs will be starting to age. Ha! Take that.

But it’s about more than just hockey and inter-city rivalry. Far more.

There’s the sense that Calgary is rolling again. There’s the realization that political leaders can show backbone when faced with a momentous but divisive decision.

Several councillors did some mandatory moaning about short consultation time.

They criticized an agreement among all three negotiating parties — the city, Stampede, and Calgary Sports and Entertainment — requiring that a yes-or-no vote had to be held Tuesday.

Yet the negotiators set a hard deadline because councillors have shown what happens when they have excuses to delay and dither.