Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie says it’s “not for me to comment on” whether an expected $130-million stadium for an expansion team in Halifax would be reliant on funding from the federal government, just weeks after the group behind the team hired consultants to lobby the government to help it pay for their venue.

The Atlantic Schooners hope to hit the still-prospective field as the CFL’s 10th team as early as 2021. Just weeks ago, Maritime Football Partnership Ltd., which is now known as Schooners Sports and Entertainment, hired three lobbyists to discuss “federal financial support” for the stadium, as well as to seek funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to potentially bring a major sporting event to the region.

They also hired a member of a Halifax law firm to lobby the government to seek an evaluation of the team proposal and partnerships with all three levels of governments.

[READ MORE: Lobby Wrap: Proposed Halifax CFL team seeking stadium funding]

The stadium’s original concept was originally reported to cost up to $190 million, but has shrunk to a more modest $130-million plan.

Ambrosie told iPolitics on Wednesday that he didn’t have a “detailed understanding” of the discussions between Schooners Sports and the federal government.

“Those conversations are really between Schooner Sports and Entertainment and the levels of government and not for me to comment on or be involved in,” Ambrosie said.

Over the weekend, Schooners Sports announced it had signed a letter-of-intent with the Canada Lands Co. that outlined the parameters of a deal that would see its team’s home built on an up-to 20 acre plot of Dartmouth’s Shannon Park. Part of this agreement, which Canada Lands explained in a press release posted online Tuesday, is that the venue be a “community stadium.”

In the same weekend announcement, Schooners Sports said it had agreed to partner with Sport Nova Scotia, which would plan to use the facility more than 300 days a year. It would be made available to local schools, community groups and for after-school and weekend activities, according to Schooners Sports. Schooners Sports founding partner Anthony Leblanc, who previously owned the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, suggested in a statement that local amateur and recreational sport organizations would access the facility for free.

“The message that they’ve been talking about is that this isn’t a facility for pro sports, it’s a facility for the community, and I think that’s been their great point of emphasis,” Ambrosie said. “We’d like to use it for pro sports and have the Atlantic Schooners play there, but I think the real point of emphasis is getting the community involved.”

Counting pre-season, regular season, playoff and a potential Grey Cup game, the Schooners would only use the stadium a maximum of 12 days per year, Ambrosie said.

Asked about potential criticism over a professional sports stadium receiving taxpayer funds, Ambrosie insisted that in return a Grey Cup would provide a sizable economic impact.

Edmonton Economic Development projected that this year’s Grey Cup would have added $64 million in revenue, while the CFL has suggested previously that the game is worth upward of $100 million to a region.

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