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Otherwise? Edmonton’s historic summer fair may well be history.

It’s a potent threat. It’s fine for hipsters to sneer at K-Days’ dated cornball charms. But more than 800,000 people attended the midway grounds this July. Despite the buzz around our more cultural events such as the Heritage Festival, Cariwest, Folk Fest or Fringe, K-Days remains our single largest summer event, appealing to a broad cross-section of Edmontonians, from toddlers to seniors. It’s our legacy festival. Sure, it’s looking a tad tired and kitschy. But there are still thousands and thousands of locals and tourists who flock to the fairgrounds to soak up the carnival atmosphere.

Yet beloved as K-Days may be, we can’t just buckle in this hostage negotiation. Because the demands never, ever end.

When the city opted to back Daryl Katz’s plan to move the Oilers to a new downtown arena, Northlands lost its anchor tenant. Northlands has a legitimate grievance on that front.

It’s also true that the slow decline of horse racing as an industry has also hurt Northlands.

But it’s also true that even with the Oilers playing in Rexall Place, even with all its concerts and other arena events, even with its horse racing, its casino and its gaming licence, Northlands wasn’t actually making any money.

In the last few years, Northlands clearedan annual “profit” of between $1.5 and $2 million, even while running one of the busiest arenas in Canada.

That number, though, is misleading. Northlands was only in the black because it was getting $20 million a year in provincial and municipal grants. It was also getting a huge rent subsidy, paying just $1 a year to rent the 64 hectares of land, the quarter section of prime urban land on which it sits — land which could certainly be redeveloped commercially.