Edmonton city council responds to Katz’s latest arena comments

Following a phone interview with print journalists, in which Daryl Katz says the future of the downtown arena is uncertain if the current deal with the city doesn’t work out, Mayor Mandel says the Oilers owner must clarify his position to council.

“He needs to come to council to tell councillors - who thought we had a deal - what the differences are and what the problems are,” says Mayor Stephen Mandel, “so that once and for all, you as the media, me as the mayor, councillors and everybody else can actually understand what he's asking for.”

Last week, following a private council meeting, Mandel told local media the Katz Group had requested more public funding for the downtown arena project. City council rejected that request, saying it was committed to the original funding agreement.

Tuesday morning, the interview with Katz appeared in local newspapers, reigniting the debate.

The Oilers owner – who rarely provides interviews, and almost never appears on camera – voiced his concerns that delays and rising costs could increase the price of the proposed $450 million project. While speaking with John MacKinnon and David Staples from the Edmonton Journal, Katz said he wanted to speak out because this project is very important, and one he’s focused on making work.

Last week, a report to city council estimated the new cost of the arena at $475 million, and revealed other requests from the Katz Group for the facility.
The additional requests surprised council members.

“I guess that my recollection of the history of this and Mr. Katz’s are substantially different,” explains Mayor Mandel, “and I’m not saying who’s right or who’s wrong, but the time has come for Mr. Katz to come to council and explain what he wants, because I no longer have any idea what he’s asking for.”

In a phone interview during 630 CHED’s “Oilers Now” program Tuesday, Katz defended his position.

“To suggest that I’ve tried to change the deal at the last minute is really unfortunate,” he said. “What’s come out of the city over the past several days is really unfair and it’s totally counterproductive.”

“The fact is I’m trying to save the deal by trying to make the economics work for both parties,” he added.

During the phone interview with 630 CHED, Katz reiterated his commitment to the project.

“We’ve never been more excited,” he said. “It’s such a great project and it makes so much sense.”

“The Oilers are the talk of the NHL today, just like Edmonton can be the talk of North America if we can get this deal done,” he adds.

He also addressed the additional requests last week taking council members off guard.

“First off, to be frank, there should never have been any news. The information was part of a … confidential briefing to council… you have to ask, who leaked it, and what they were trying to do by facilitating such a leak.”

“We are engaged in a process,” he added. “I feel badly that some members of council were caught off guard, but really it’s not our responsibility to brief council.”

He says he wanted to use gaming revenue from casinos to subsidize the arena project, as other cities do for their sports facilities, but says it didn’t materialize for Edmonton’s arena project.

Katz still strongly believes a private-public partnership is the best way to make this project a reality.

“We don’t think that should be so difficult to achieve,” he said, “especially since the deal presents so little risk to the city, since they need a new arena anyway.”

Still, the mayor says the two sides are not on the same page, and that needs to change. He wants the Katz Group to meet with council in person. Late Tuesday afternoon, he re-iterated that position in a statement posted on the City of Edmonton's website, which you can read in full here.

“So, the time has come for them to come to us in public, to explain to council, because it’s unfair to councillors,” says Mandel.

“I think Mayor Mandel is right,” says Councillor Tony Caterina. “There is a disconnect here, from the way it was presented to council and a number of additional asks that have been put on the table.”

“It doesn’t seem to acknowledge that there are some substantial new issues that are going to be financially unviable for the city if they remain as how he’s put them forward,” Caterina adds.

We'd like to hear what you think about this. If Daryl Katz were to appear to council, what would you like to hear from him? Weigh in on our Facebook page.

Asked if he was still optimistic about the arena deal coming to fruition, Katz replied, “I’m an entrepreneur and I own a hockey team, so I guess I have to be optimistic.”

“It’s not the first deal I’ve done, and I can tell you, it’s always darkest before the dawn.”

On Tuesday, Councillor Don Iveson also sounded off on the arena situation. You can watch his full interview on the Early News with Gord Steinke below:

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