Start putting aside money for your Expos season tickets. La Caisse’s new investment arm – CDPQ Infra – will most certainly be building the Expos’ new baseball stadium in downtown Montreal!

Who or what is 'CDPQ Infra'? Launched in July 2015 by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Quebec's $248 billion pension fund, CDPQ Infra (as in the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec 'infrastructure' arm) is in charge of the recently announced, $5.5 billion, 67 km, light rail train:

http://cdpqinfra.com/en/Reseau_electrique_metropolitain

"The CDPQ Infra business model aims to foster effective execution of major public infrastructure projects. It allows CDPQ Infra to generate commercial returns while the government continues to be responsible for identifying proposed projects, determining the public interest to address, and approving the solution to implement on the basis of the options proposed by CDPQ Infra.

The model gives Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec the opportunity to use its expertise to benefit Québec, to invest in tangible assets, and to implement global best practices to execute work on time and on budget." - CDPQ Infra website

With the CDPQ Infra model, none of the three governments - municipal, provincial or federal - is the owner of the new stadium nor do they have the stadium costs on their balance sheet - so no tangible political fallout! However, they can ‘invest’ in the project which La Caisse will certainly make profitable; and since the CDPQ Infra is in charge of construction and operations of the facility that they would rent to the Expos’ future ownership group, then you can assume that the stadium will be delivered on budget, on time and, one would assume that it shall be a world-class stadium, befitting our great city and pension fund.

A few days ago on TV, at the press conference for the new light rail project, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre made a baseball joke with Michael Sabia, head of La Caisse. I heard then of the CDPQ Infra– the Caisse’s new, infrastructure and investment arm: a light bulb suddenly went off in my dull head, then that song, “this is how we do it”!

And in case I needed more convincing, just moments ago I came across an article written over a year ago by a very wise, veteran columnist at Le Journal de Montreal, Michel Girard, who had this figured out 7 months prior to CDPQ Infra’s opening for business:

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/01/30/un-stade-de-baseball-pour-la-caisse

And as Michel Girard states in his last sentence, ‘if the Caisse is not interested, then they can simply deny it!” Perhaps they have and I have missed it.

So why has the CDPQ Infra and its President, Mr. Macky Tall (in photo above with Mr. Sabia and Mr. Coderre), not publicly confirmed or denied their intentions in regards to financing and constructing our new MLB stadium? Probably because the Caisse has wisely taken on the personality of its director, Michael Sabia. He has quietly brought stability and consistent double-digit returns to the behemoth pension fund which was suffering from a $40 billion loss the previous year before his arrival as the Caisse Chief Executive in 2009. Their most recent returns, under Sabia's guidance, exceeded $80 billion in profit. I look forward to his autobiography, penned in retirement, when he writes his ‘Expos’ chapter to see how this all came about and who was behind the building of the stadium - should it turn out to be true that the Caisse shall build it. If it happens, then we can certainly trust him and his team to build a legacy stadium.

I would also suggest that the delay is due to the fact that the CDPQ Infra needs time to spread out the announcements of the long-awaited light rail network and the stadium projects or Quebec taxpayers and pensioners would be concerned that too much money over too short a time frame is being invested in infrastructure. Most certainly both projects will be a huge success since Sabia has the golden touch; and the Expos future ownership group is expected to be solid, local and committed without the financial drag of the Expos having to play in Olympic Stadium.

Expect a news conference from CDPQ Infra & Mayor Coderre regarding a new stadium by next April’s Blue Jays weekend series at Olympic Stadium. I'd love to see CDPQ Infra as one of the major partners in the actual Expos team, however that may exceed their mandate. Certainly, Sabia, previously CEO of BCE, (formerly known as Bell Canada Enterprises, Inc.) can convince TSN Sports - owned by the same Bell Media - to broadcast all Expos games nationally on their TV and radio networks; and perhaps to even bring Bell Media on board as a partner in the Expos ownership group.

The media here gets excited when they report on Mayor Coderre visiting the Commissioner of Major League Baseball to discuss MLB expansion to Montreal. The real story, however, is the quiet meetings that Michael Sabia has already had or about to have with the same MLB boss regarding the key component of expansion to Montreal - a downtown stadium. Then again, maybe I'm completely 'off base' with this train of thought?

The stars seem to be aligning so well that I even wonder if CDPQ Infra was a means to an end for Sabia: bringing back the Expos? Probably not though I am sure that he was an Expos fan growing up in St. Catharines, Ontario in the 1960's. The downtown stadium, tourism for Quebec etc. just makes good business sense; and adds more punch to the rebirth of Montreal and the province of Quebec as a whole after so many dark years, economically. Chew on that Neil MacDonald!

As per my earlier articles, I would only ask that the stadium be named after Felipe Alou. He gave several decades to our team; was a patient Expos employee held back in the minors for too many years; and stabilized the franchise over the last, long-suffering years with some of the greatest teams in Expos' history. His name on the stadium will take the Expos brand much further than any corporate name ever could – especially since stadiums named after corporations tend to change names every 5 years.

Also, I hope that Elliott Price will remain our play-by-play man for English broadcasts. He did a great job during a very difficult period in Expos' history. He deserves the job: either on TV or radio.

Hopefully CDPQ Infra can see fit to do a similar project in Vancouver so that its citizens can also enjoy MLB and root for their home team. And maybe even build a new stadium for Tampa Bay Rays while they're at it!

Here is more information regarding CDPQ Infra model:

http://cdpqinfra.com/en/the-model