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It seemed like loads of time. In mid-January, the National Capital Commission granted the feuding RendezVous LeBreton partners an extension until Feb. 28 to reach a deal on the 20-year, $4-billion project to redevelop LeBreton Flats.

Turns out, there was too much time. It’s rare that a mediation effort — such as the one led here by former Ontario chief justice Warren Winkler — lasts much longer than a day or two. Often it takes the threat of a real deadline to force changes in position. And now, finally, we have what looks to be a firm cutoff date.

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“The NCC was very clear,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Tuesday. “There’s a deadline for Feb. 28 and there will be no extension.”

The main issue, as it has been for some time, is how the project’s extensive risks and potentially large profits should be shared. Shortly before the relationship between Trinity Development founder Ruddy and Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk degenerated late last year into $1.7 billion in suits and countersuits, Melnyk had been willing to forgo his share of the profits in exchange for a rent-free arena for his NHL team. Ruddy has been insisting that Melnyk should pay arena rent on commercial terms. What to do with the proceeds of the sale of the Canadian Tire Centre and surrounding property also figured into the mix.