Moncton arena funding still up in the air after false alarm

With a deadline approaching, some hoped a government funding announcement held on Monday would finally reveal the future of the proposed Moncton arena, but excitement quickly fell flat.

All three levels of government were on hand for what a Friday release by Infrastucture Canada called an “important infrastructure funding announcement” in Moncton.

This led some media outlets to speculate over the weekend that Monday would bring answers about the long-discussed events centre — but instead a $3.4-million culvert replacement project to help prevent flooding was announced.

That leaves the future of the $107-million downtown events centre still up in the air.

Meanwhile, a June 20 deadline for funding commitments issued late last month by Moncton city manager Jacques Dubéis fast approaching.

While the project has its detractors, the mayor, city council, the local Conservative MP and business groups are backing the project.

So too is local resident Adrien Pellerin.

“We are the Hub City. I think that a lot of events would really be stopping here and we would become a stop on every major music tour,” he said.

The land has been bought and cleared, but the project will have to be largely funded by taxpayer dollars, and doubts persist because not all government stakeholders have committed to funding it.

The province has not committed, saying it is still reviewing whether the project meets funding criteria.

The federal government has agreed to fund other projects, to free up municipal money for the events centre.

Among the project’s opponents is Daniel LeBlanc, who launched a website to look at other ways of spending $100 million.

“It might not be the best idea to put a hockey rink in that spot, so I think if we get the people engaged in the community we will get the true understanding of the project and the options that we have,” he said.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s David Bell