Creswin's Winnipeg stadium payout queried

A Winnipeg city councillor is crying foul over a multimillion-dollar payout tobusinessmanDavid Asper's property-development firm as part of its now-ended role in the construction of a new football stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Last week,councillors approved their end of a $190-million deal to build a 33,000-seat stadium on the University of Manitoba campus.

That agreement includes a $4-million payout for Asper's Creswin Properties to cover the company's costs in a now-defunct scheme involving Asper and Creswin as major stakeholders. Creswin no longer has a stake in the deal.

Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) was one of twocouncillors who voted against the stadium proposal approved last week.

He said Monday he wonders why the Creswin payout forms part of the deal, saying it smacks of unfairness to other businesses.

"Why are we paying for anything?," he asked. "If you try and start a business and your business fails, can you go to the government and ask them for monies that you expended to try and get your business up and operating?

'Why are we paying for anything?' Coun. Russ Wyatt

"No," he said. "There's no other business out there [that] can get money from government.

The province offered abreakdown of the Creswin payoutMonday.

A spokesperson said the payout includes more than $1.8 million for architects contracted by Creswin and $856,828 to cover the company's legal and contract fees. Creswin will also be reimbursed $476,139 for business plan development and financial consulting.

Creswin spent more than $654,000 on marketing and communications in an effort to promote the stadium project, the province said.

However, the province said no money was spent trying to sell what was once touted as the linchpin of Asper's involvement in the deal the construction of a ritzy retail plaza on the current site of the Canad Inns Stadium at Polo Park after it was torn down.

The project was dubbed The Elms.

Asper had previously said the money raised from The Elms would go toward paying back a $90-million bridge-financing loan from the province to get the stadium started.

Underterms of the new stadium financing deal, the province is providing the majority of the construction capital in the form of loans to be repaid over a 44-year period.

Colin Craig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said he was disappointed the full details of the Creswin payout weren't disclosed to the public before the deal was approved.

"We would hope to see all the information up front before any kind of reimbursement happens. We've asked for all the details behind the expenses and still haven't received it," he said.

Creswin did not respond to a request for comment.