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
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Maximum payout for LifeLabs class-action drops from $150 estimate to $7.86
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.