Stadium deal being rushed: Wyatt

A Winnipeg city councillor vows to vote against the latest plan for a new football stadium.

Coun. Russ Wyattsaid thenew financing arrangement isa rush deal being pushed through council.

"That's really unfortunate,you know? That's kinda Brian Mulroney brinkmanship-style politics,you know, 'let's make a deal; let's ram it through;let's get it done and don't give 'em any time to think,'" he said.

'There's a lot of rich people out there that are going to get even richer with this development.' Coun. Russ Wyatt

Wyatt, who was the only dissenting vote in the spring when council passed the last stadium deal that has since fallen apart thinks the facility should be built downtown as part of an expansion of the Convention Centre.

He believes the stadium deal is being rushed because the city is eager to sell off the Bombers current home, Canad Inns stadium at Polo Park, and developers are itching to build there.

"This is all about building at Polo Park and seeing more commercial and residential development, which is fine, but there's a lot of rich people out there that are going to get even richer with this development. That's what's driving this," Wyatt said.

He wants to see the plan's fine print and says the public should be consulted before any council vote is made.

However, council meets for the final time this year on Wednesday and Mayor Sam Katz said the financing deal for the $190-million stadium must be approved or else the plan will be stalled and thecosts will only increase.

Council members only learned about the financing arrangements during a closed-door meeting earlyMonday afternoon.

It requires them to cover $12.5 million, to be financed from the sale of Canad Inns Stadium. The city and province will also combine for another $17.5 through a variety of grants.

The province will put up about $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 developed.

Bombers' board OK's deal

The Winnipeg Football Club (WFC) will provide about $85 million, which it will acquire through a 44-year loan from the province.

The WFC board of directorsunanimously approved the team's role during a meeting lateMonday afternoon.

The deal must still be OK'd by theUniversity of Manitoba,where the stadium is to be built. Officials there are meetingTuesday night for that purpose.

If approved, it will go to city council for a vote on Wednesday.