Albertans are divided — but leaning towards negative — on the plan for the new event centre in Calgary, according to a poll conducted by ThinkHQ Public Affairs. .Calgarians specifically are slightly in favour of the deal..“The results on this aren’t especially surprising,” said ThinkHQ President Marc Henry in a Monday press release. .“We’ve tracked public sentiment on every proposed Event Centre deal that’s come forward in the past decade, and they always seem to divide Calgarians in half.”.Details of a new $1.2-billion NHL-sized arena and entertainment district for Calgary were finalized after years of haggling on Tuesday. .READ MORE: UPDATED: New $1.22-billion arena plan for Calgary finally a go.This arena is planned to be built at 14 Ave. and 5 St. SE. .The City of Calgary will pay $537.3 million to fund the development of the event centre, parking structure, the enclosed plaza, and 25% of the community rink..The poll said half of Albertans disapprove of the deal. It said 43% of them approve, and 7% are unsure. .There are 12% of people who said they have not heard any details about the deal, while 64% reported being aware of the issues. .Many political watchers have said this deal is about wooing Calgary voters, but the results indicate that is not the case. In Calgary, sentiment towards the new agreement is flipped compared to the Alberta average — 50% approve, 45% disapprove, and 5% are unsure. .In the rest of Alberta, sentiment is divided, except in Edmonton. Three-fifths of Edmontonians disapprove of it, compared to one-third offering support. .Approval for the deal tends to increase modestly with age and income and is lower among women and people with a university education. .Henry said Edmontonians disapprove of the deal because of the historic rivalry between the two cities and the lack of provincial support for the Rogers Place. .While it is not an issue which is going to win new votes for the Alberta United Conservative Party in Calgary, he said it could cost them votes in the ridings surrounding Edmonton. He added it is an issue which could cost the Alberta NDP the election if mishandled. .For the Alberta NDP to form government, they need to win the majority of Calgary seats. Polls show many of these constituencies will be determined by thin margins. .Henry concluded by saying killing a deal popular with half of Calgarians is “the kind of thing that could tip the balance in several of these ‘toss up’ ridings.”.“For the NDP, that’s the difference between having a chance at forming Government and not,” he said. .NDP leader Rachel Notley said on Tuesday the party remains committed to revitalizing downtown Calgary and building a better future for residents. .READ MORE: Notley says Calgary arena deal needs more thought.“Still, we note the cost of the latest proposed arena deal has doubled in size in 18 months and while the original version laid out a 50-50 private-public partnership, taxpayers are now responsible for more than 70% of the cost,” said Notley. .She said the NDP believes all voters “would expect their elected representatives to do due diligence on the economics and fiscal value of a capital project this size.” .The poll was conducted online among 789 Albertans from April 26 to 29. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
