Tom Anselmi faces job of politician in new role with Ottawa Senators

During Cyril Leeder's somewhat emotional and always gracious news conference Thursday, the now-former president of the Senators was asked if he had any political aspirations.

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"That's an easy one no!" he answered with a light laugh on what must have been a heavy day for the man who spent the past three decades helping build this city's NHL franchise before being fired by owner Eugene Melnyk.

But it's a little late for Leeder to swear off politics.

Whether it was managing the often-rocky relation between Melnyk and City Hall (the casino debacle comes to mind), co-chairing the city's bid for the 2021 Canada Summer Games or simply being a reliable donor to municipal candidates, Leeder has been a powerful player in the capital's political scene for years.

At no time was this more apparent than during the bidding process to redevelop LeBreton Flats.

It is surely no coincidence that a number of city leaders who know "Cy" well from the head of both the Ontario and local chambers of commerce to the president of the United Way publicly proclaimed their support for the Senators-backed bid within hours of it being made public.

That is not meant to be as cynicalas it sounds. Leeder has been a gentlemanly force for civic good for years, delivering on many philanthropic and public-spirited projects. But he's also a shrewd political player, with deep community roots, long-standing connections to the city's influential players and a keen understanding of Ottawa's unique bureaucratic stew.

So it's a bit ironic that the person who, arguably more than any other individual, corralled the support for Senators' LeBreton bid has been replaced just as negotiations for that deal are underway.

Leeder's replacement has his work cut out for him.

Tom Anselmi's biggest project to date?

Tom Anselmi, the new president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators, is no slouch in the major-infrastructure department.

He was involved in developing Toronto's SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), and more recently and more to the point was responsible for "the overall development of the Air Canada Centre, the critically acclaimed home of the NHL's Maple Leafs and the NBA's Raptors," according to his bio on the NHL's official website.

That's the sort of experience, one presumes, that went into Melnyk's decision to put Anselmi into the top job.

But the LeBreton project has the potential to be Anselmi's biggest infrastructure challenge to date. Consider that it's national public land being considered for private development, that it's contaminated, must incorporate two light-rail stations and is on the Ottawa River, which recently received a national heritage designation.

Add into the mix that the Sens-backed RendezVous LeBreton Group will in all likelihood be asking all levels of government for money (including tensof millions from the city for land remediation alone), as well as negotiating a long-term land deal with the National Capital Commission, and one can believe Melnyk's claim that he wouldn't want Anselmi's job.

Public scrutiny ahead

Anselmi has all this to look forward to, without the benefit of any local connections. Not that Anselmi will be penning this plan on his own. RendezVous LeBreton Group is a joint partnership of the Sens and Trinity Group, whose leader John Ruddy is not to be underestimated when it comes to nailing development deals done in this city. Plus, there will be an army of lawyers and financiers and planning types working on this bid.

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Still, someone has to be the frontman for this ambitious project, and that person is probably Anselmi.

He should be prepared for people to be intensely interested in the process of how any deal goes down. That may sound self-evident, but the backers behind the Lansdowne redevelopment deal (which included Ruddy) appeared taken somewhat by surprise at the uproar over procedure (or lack thereof) in that instance and those folks are from Ottawa.

And speaking of Lansdowne, the controversy over that deal could make it all the more challenging for the Senators to raise public support for public funds for a new arena.

Anselmi understands, no doubt, about the ambivalent nature of Ottawa's hockey fans. Even though residents generally liked the RendezVous LeBreton plan, many were critical of the arena being the focal point.

The NCC will require patience (and money), public officials will requiring lobbying, the public will require convincing. Sounds like a job for a politician.

Welcome to Ottawa, Tom Anselmi.