Moshe Lander says 'the federal government should not be involved in financing sports stadiums or arenas in any capacity'

The federal government should not be involved in financing sports or arenas in any capacity, according to a sports economist.

Moshe Lander says the group looking to bring a CFL team to Halifax shouldn't ask the feds for funding.

Lander's comments come after word that Schooner Sports and Entertainment (SSE) hired three consultants from Ottawa based Summa Strategies to set up meetings with government officials.

SSE is looking for federal dollars to help with the construction of the stadium, estimated to cost between $170 to $190 million, although after an initial outcry about that price tag, a scaled down version can be built for $130 million.

Lander tells NEWS 95.7 that asking for taxpayer assistance is the wrong move and "the fact that we're asking the federal government to maybe contribute funds to this, so what's next, if we want a new stadium for the Alouettes, or the Argos, would they start asking the federal government for this?"

He continues, "this seems like a sort of behaviour that the federal government should not be involved in financing sports stadiums or arenas in any capacity."

Moshe says this isn't sitting well with him, adding it is a surprising move.

"The fact that the effort continues to go on [is] not surprising, any ownership group is going to want to try to come up with some way to get money out of the public purse, the surprising part is that they now want to ask the federal government, not just the provincial government or municipal," he says. "That's a bit of a new one."

Lander questions the decision makers at SSE, saying the process to bring the CFL team to Halifax has been haphazard at best.

"You have a name now, but you don't have an official application with the CFL, you don't have a business plan yet with the city or the province," says Lander. "So, they seem to be just moving in kind of weird speeds, they want to build up some sort of season ticket base, and fan support, so they just really seem kind of out of kilter, it's a real mess that they've created."

SSE has said they want to have players on the field as early as 2020, but with so many pieces still up in the air, it is expected that the team, if ready by then, would be staging their games out of Moncton, New Brunswick until the necessary infrastructure was completed in Halifax.