A CFL stadium?!

Just say NO! to the city paying for a stadium for a local Canadian Football League team ("Halifax tackles funding options for $200-million CFL stadium," Reality Bites story by Jacob Boon, posted October 26 at thecoast.ca). It's unclear who will own the stadium and who will pay for the cost of building it. It's a similar model to the one used to finance the Halifax convention centre, whose offices and retail space are still vacant, and the hotel is still unfinished, plus the ridiculous underestimation of money needed to complete. Sounds fishy to me. It would be nice to have a CFL team here. But at what price? Have you been to a SMU Huskies game recently? Not exactly overflowing with fans. Let's see the Maritime Football League group cough up some real cash, real answers on costs and a real commitment to this city before we even consider this ill-conceived proposal. —Doug Barron, Halifax

We need a new hospital. We need a transit system that's not shit. —posted at thecoast.ca by Kakera

We need a city that is attractive for people to stay, who in turn will pay taxes to support hospitals. The bottomless pit for transit and health care infrastructure isn't going to make us prosperous. Why don't we stop the bus routes that nobody rides and redirect the money to a stadium?

Why don't we stop the $60 million renovation of the Forum, crappy old venue that it is, and build something new like a stadium? There are lots of areas to stop the waste in Halifax. Let's build a multi- function stadium and make Halifax an exciting place to call home. —posted by Greg50179723

Greg50179723, you know what's attractive in a city? Emergency room wait times that aren't five-plus hours long. Access to a family doctor. Hospitals that aren't flooding or full of vermin (or sometimes both at the same time, apparently). Not having to waste two hours going to work and back by bus. You think people will stay here because we have a "world-class" stadium but none of the above? That's fucked. —posted by Kakera

Kakera, easy on the aggressive hostility. The provincial government is putting money aside for a hospital downtown. There is a plan and it is being implemented. I ride the bus to work and back, and find it reliable and perfectly fine. When did you wait five hours for an emergency hospital visit? I can tell you if you need help in emergency, you get it right away if it is deemed a real emergency. Stop being a hostile complainer. Complain complain complain. Move somewhere else if you don't like it here. —posted by Greg50179723

Well, Greg, I have experienced a more-than-five-hour wait in the hospital emergency room. Had a kidney stone. At one point I begged them to kill me because the pain was excruciating. But because it was "only pain," it was not deemed an emergency. Now, I couldn't go to my family doctor because she is booked two weeks ahead of time. The drop-in clinics will not prescribe pain medication. The only option I had was to go to the emergency, and I had to wait.

After 12:30 at night in Halifax, there are no public transit options. After 12:30 at night in Montreal, there are public transit options.

These are long-standing issues. We have asked. We have begged. We have screamed. And now we are getting a stadium? How are people going to get home from the stadium after a long game? Who is going to care for the athletes who injure themselves while playing in the stadium?

Kakera is simply—and rightfully—frustrated. Perhaps your bus ride is not nearly as long as Kak's. Apples and oranges are both fruit, yet are equally as different.

And you are right as well. We had a period of economic annihilation as a result of former mayor Peter Kelly and some of the still-remaining city council members. We are now in a process of playing catch-up. I'm not calling Mike Savage a saviour, but under his leadership we are seeing actual progress.

Complaining is reflective of our past experience and the frustration that we Nova Scotians have felt for decades. Voicing an opinion contrary to yours is not complaining. Prioritizing is a key element in the planning process here because there is a finite amount of money. Do we go to the bar or do we pay rent? —posted by Agra Phol