Asper breaks silence on stadium deal

Winnipeg businessman David Asper has broken his silencedays after he and his property-development company were quietlycut outfroma deal to build a new stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In an emailed statement to media outlets, the CEO of Creswin Properties Ltd.thanks and praises Winnipeg football fans who have supported efforts to see a new stadium rise in the city.

However,he doesn'taddress why neitherhe nor Creswinare notpart of a $190 million stadium-financingarrangement recently pitched and approved by the province, the football team, the University of Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg.

Nor does Aspertalk abouta controversial $4-million payout Creswin is receiving for work it had done on previous efforts to get a stadium built.

"There is an old saying to the effect that, 'you cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind,'"Asper's statement said. "Someone had to actually start the process and it has been an honour to have been able to lead that charge."

"This outcome is entirely what I envisioned, because the project is and always was about doing something to get a stadium built," Asper said. Constructionof a 33,000-seat stadium on the U of M campus in south Winnipeg may be complete by 2012.

Payout panned

Until last week's agreement, Creswinhad beena major part of past stadium proposals.

In April, a tentative $115 million stadium deal in which Creswinloomed largewas announced to much fanfare.

That deal proposed Asperborrowing $100 million from the province in the form of bridge-financingto get construction started immediately. Excavation of the site began not long after the deal was announced.

The City of Winnipeg agreed to sell the site of the current stadium at market value to Creswin, which offered plans to build an upmarket new commercial development there to repay the loan. Asper would also have owned the team.

Creswin's ability to develop the Polo Park land where the old stadium sits was a key piece of the puzzle, Asper said atthe time.

But by the fall, rumours of massive construction cost overruns from the $115 million figure began to put that stadium deal in doubt.

On Dec. 13, Mayor Sam Katz confirmed Asper was no longer part of the currentstadium plans, which now involves the Bombers borrowing $85 million as a long-term loan from the province. The province is putting upanother $75 million with the expectation that it will be paid back over many years from tax revenue earned from the old stadium site once it has been redeveloped.

The City of Winnipeg will cover $12.5 million of the cost, to be financed from the sale of the old stadium site near Polo Park. The city and province will also combine for the remaining $17.5 through a variety of grants.

As part of the deal, Creswinis gettinga $4 million payout to reimburse the company's pastexpenses with respect to the stadium. While the province has provided a limited breakdown of what those expenses were, the payout has been criticized by some.

Coun. Russ Wyatt said this week the payment smacked of unfairness to other businesses. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said because the stadium is now being built completely with taxpayermoney,all aspectsof Creswin's payout should be made public.