Edmonton city councillors are weighing in on the letter of apology Daryl Katz wrote to Edmontonians and other Oilers fans.
The letter, apologizing for the way he has handled arena negotiations, came in form of an ad printed in the two major Edmonton newspapers, Saturday morning. In the letter, Katz stated,
"I was upset when certain confidential information was leaked and by comments I thought were unfair and called my integrity into question. I reacted by trying to send a message to City leaders that they should not take my support for a new arena for granted."
City councillors have weighed in on the apology. Councillor Kerry Diotte thinks the apology is a good start.
"I think that Daryl realizes that that trip to Seattle angered a lot of people and wasn't really helpful to try to negotiate a deal for a new arena."
Councillor Kim Krushell was surprised to see the letter when she woke up Saturday morning but, also believes it's a step in the right direction.
"I think that he has realized that that wasn't a good negotiating tactic."
However, both believe there is still a lot of ground to be covered before a deal is reached.
"The reference to being upset about figures becoming public, well, I think all the figures should be public so if that's going to be a stumbling block, I have to protect the public first. If we're asking for public money, we should see the figures publically," said Diotte.
He says the city owes it to the people of Edmonton to put everything out on the table.
"Is the team making a lot of money, losing money, we've never seen that in black and white and I think that as a guardian of the public first, we've got to see that," Diotte said adding, "We've got to see the figures. If we're talking sustainability then tell us how sustainable they are under the present deal, how much they'll make under the new deal."
Krushell thinks council has been very reasonable with the Katz Group thus far and will continue to be fair going forward.
"Daryl needs to work on fair negotiations. We've been acting in good faith and we need to get back to the table and we need to get a deal."
"The deal is still a long way off," added Diotte, "I don't want a deal and Edmontonians don't want a deal that's done behind closed doors."
Last Monday, Mayor Stephen Mandel set a "drop dead date" of October 17th for a presentation on the deal.
Read Katz's letter in its entirety below:
Katz Letter
With files from Jenna Bridges
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