Montrealers won't pay for an Expos stadium - at least according to new Florida billboard
There may be a lot of baseball fans in Quebec pining for the sport to return to Montreal, but you wouldn't know it if you were coming out of the Tropicana Stadium in Tampa Bay.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) made their views on the issue known Monday in the form of a large outdoor billboard outside the Florida venue that claims Canadian taxpayers don’t want to foot the bill for a new stadium in Montreal.
There's been a lot of buzz around the idea that the Florida team could play part of their season in Montreal. The CTF says no way.
“If the Rays want to come and play baseball in Montreal, they are more than welcome to do so," said Renaud Brossard of the CTF.
"We might even buy tickets to come see them. But if they want us to pay for their new stadium, that’s a big no-no."
Montreal hasn’t had it’s own team in 20 years, since the Expos moved to Washington, D.C.
But moving a team back into the city would likely mean a new stadium that would come with a high price tag.
“It is not taxpayers’ responsibility to pay for a new ballpark for millionaire and billionaire sports team owners, said Brossard.
Others who are dreaming of baseball’s big return, however, suggest the federation is grandstanding, before they even have all the facts.
“The billboard situation in Tampa Bay is nonsense," said the founder of ExposNation, Matthew Ross.
"They’re saying they don’t want to spend money on anything in Montreal relating to baseball, but they haven’t seen plans, they haven’t seen a budget. They don’t even know what the ask is."
Still, the idea of a stadium has been kicking around for years. A group of Montreal business people that includes Stephen Bronfman has been lobbying for a new venue to be built near the Peel basin.
The province has said it’s too soon to know how it could be financed and that it’s still under discussion.
And the Tampa Bay Rays aren’t going anywhere soon. The lease the team holds on the Tropicana Stadium is good for another six years and it’s unlikely it would move to another field before then.
Nonetheless, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says it’s important to have a say in the debate now so that the population can give some thought to the value of “spending a couple of hundred million bucks on a ballpark.”
“We have crumbling road infrastructure, both in Montreal and in the province of Quebec, our healthcare system is struggling," said Brossard.
"Those are all things where the government could invest some money."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.