ARENA ENVY?

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 6 AM MST, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

PRINT EXCLUSIVE: POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Mainstreet surveyed a random sample of 823 Calgary residents by Smart IVR on September 7, 2016. A mixture of landlines and
cell phones were surveyed. Margin of error: +/- 3.41%, 19 times out of 20. Results were weighed by age and gender based on the
2011 Canadian Census.

A2

"Exclusive Mainstreet/Postmedia polls are protected

by copyright. The information and/or data may only
be rebroadcast or republished with full and proper
credit and attribution to Mainstreet/Postmedia.

SOME CALGARIANS HAVE ARENA ENVY - BUT MANY MORE NOT SOLD ON FINANCING PLAN
September 13, 2016 (Ottawa, ON) A new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll nds Calgarians following the developments at
Rogers Place and Mosaic Stadium strongly support CalgaryNext - but the a majority in Calgary disapproves of the
proposed nancing plan. With 823 Calgarians surveyed on September 7th, the Mainstreet/Postmedia Poll has a
margin of error of +/- 3.41%, 19 times out of 20 .
With high prole new venues in arch rival Edmonton (Rogers Place) and in Regina (Mosaic Stadium) we wanted to
see how awareness of those aected opinions about the proposed Calgary Next arena/stadium, said Quito Maggi,
President of Mainstreet Research. Sure enough, those who have been following news of these two venues were much
more likely to support Calgary Next when compared to those who were not following very closely or were not aware.
In fact, a majority of both those who followed the Rogers Place development (51%) and those who followed the Mosaic
Stadium project (50%) approve of the Calgary Next proposal.
While some Calgarians are envious - the majority still do not approve of the CalgaryNext nancing proposal. In fact,
opposition to the nancing proposal has increased.
In August of 2015 we asked Calgarians their opinions about CalgaryNext and, a year later we take a look again to see
how those opinions may have changed. At that time, 20% of Albertans told us they were optimistic about the state of
the Alberta economy and 40% were optimistic about their own personal nances. Over 55% told us they were
pessimistic about the public purse and just over 1 in 4 were pessimistic about their own nances.
Since that time, we have seen pessimism about the Alberta economy climb to over 60% in October of 2015 and come
back down just below 60% in March of 2016 while pessimism about personal nances has increased to 30% in October
2015 and 35% in March of 2016.
Many in Calgary, 53% (-3%) agree a proposal for new facilities is good for the city, but when it comes to CalgaryNext
its an entirely dierent story.
In terms of direct support for the project, opinions continue to be deadlocked with 40% supporting, this includes 19%
who strongly support the project (unchanged since 2015) compared to 40% who are opposed (up 6% since 2015).
This project and the specic proposals appears to have polarized opinions as those who strongly oppose the project
has increased from 14% to 25% (+11%). Those who are unsure are down but almost all the movement has benetted
critics of the proposal. It could have been the visit from Gary Bettman, public spats with the mayor or perhaps
nancial cautions the arena is almost certain to go over budget.
The current nancing proposal enjoys little support, with a majority (51%) saying they don't support the proposed
funding model. Among decided Calgarians, that amounts to 70% opposed to the current nancing model. Among
only those who are opposed or unsure to the current proposal, two thirds want the Calgary Flames ownership alone
to nance the project with just 23% considering some government nancing component, nished Maggi.
About Mainstreet Research
Mainstreet is a national public research rm. With 20 years of political experience at all three levels of government,
President and CEO Quito Maggi is a respected commentator on Canadian public aairs.
Dierentiated by its large sample sizes, Mainstreet Research has provided accurate snapshots of public opinion,
having predicted a majority NDP government in Alberta, a majority Liberal government in British Columbia and a
majority Liberal government in Ontario. Mainstreet has been the most accurate polling rm in several by elections and
the most recent Toronto mayoral election. Most recently, Mainstreet was the only polling rm to correctly predict a
Liberal majority government in the 2015 federal election.
-30Available for interview from Ottawa: Quito Maggi, quito@mainstreetresearch.ca
For more information: David Valentin, 514-913-5524, david@mainstreetresearch.ca

A3

As you may have heard, the ownership group of the

Calgary Flames wants to build a new $890-million project
called CalgaryNext with an arena, eld house and
stadium development for the west end of the downtown.
How closely have you been following this story?

City

18-34

35-49

50-64

65+

Male

Female

Very Closely

40%

45%

36%

39%

41%

45%

36%

Somewhat

34%

27%

36%

40%

38%

32%

36%

Not Too

16%

16%

15%

17%

14%

15%

17%

Not At All

6%

6%

10%

2%

7%

6%

6%

Not Aware

3%

6%

3%

2%

0%

3%

4%

Sample

823

137

156

274

256

399

424

A3

As you may have heard, the ownership group of the

Calgary Flames wants to build a new $890-million project
called CalgaryNext with an arena, eld house and
stadium development for the west end of the downtown.
How closely have you been following this story?

A5

Do you agree or disagree with the following: a

proposal to build a new arena, stadium, and eld
house is good for the city .

A6

Do you agree or disagree with the following: a

proposal to build a new arena, stadium, and eld
house is good for the city .

A7

Thinking about everything you have seen or heard

about Calgary Next do you support the project or
oppose the project ?

A8

Thinking about everything you have seen or heard

about Calgary Next do you support the project or
oppose the project ?

A9

Rogers Place, a new arena for the city of Edmonton,

has been in the news recently. How closely have you
been following this story?

A10

Mosaic Stadium, a new arena for the city of Regina,

has been in the news recently. How closely have you
been following this story?

A11

Approval of Calgary Next

VS
Following Rogers Place/Mosaic Stadium

Following Rogers Place vs Approval for Calgary Next

Following Mosaic Stadium vs Approval for Calgary Next

A12
Regarding the funding of the proposed new arena project in Calgary, the Flames
ownership group is suggesting that funding would come from the following
sources: $200 million from the Flames ownership group; $200 million from the
city for the municipal eld house; $250 million from a ticket tax on users, and the
remaining $240 million would come from a community revitalization levy with
governments giving up or postponing future tax revenue. Do you support this
nancing model?

A13
Regarding the funding of the proposed new arena project in Calgary, the Flames
ownership group is suggesting that funding would come from the following
sources: $200 million from the Flames ownership group; $200 million from the
city for the municipal eld house; $250 million from a ticket tax on users, and the
remaining $240 million would come from a community revitalization levy with
governments giving up or postponing future tax revenue. Do you support this
nancing model?

A14

In your view, how should CalgaryNext be funded?

[Oppose Flames Funding Proposal/Not Sure About
Flames Funding Proposal ONLY]

A15

SCRIPT

As you may have heard, the ownership group of the Calgary Flames wants to build a new $890-million project
called CalgaryNext with an arena, eld house and stadium development for the west end of the downtown. How
closely have you been following this story?
Very closely
Somewhat Closely
Not Too Closely
Not At All Closely
Not Aware of the Story
Do you agree or disagree with the following: a proposal to build a new arena, stadium, and eld house is good for
the city .
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Thinking about everything you have seen or heard about Calgary Next do you support the project or oppose the
project?
Strongly Support
Somewhat Support
Neither Support nor Oppose
Somewhat Oppose
Strongly Oppose
Rogers Place, a new arena for the city of Edmonton, has been in the news recently. How closely have you been
following this story?
Mosaic Stadium, a new arena for the city of Regina, has been in the news recently. How closely have you been
following this story?
Very closely
Somewhat Closely
Not Too Closely
Not At All Closely
Not Aware of the Story
Regarding the funding of the proposed new arena project in Calgary, the Flames ownership group is suggesting
that funding would come from the following sources: $200 million from the Flames ownership group; $200
million from the city for the municipal eld house; $250 million from a ticket tax on users, and the remaining $240
million would come from a community revitalization levy with governments giving up or postponing future tax
revenue. Do you support this nancing model?
Yes
No
Not Sure
In your view, how should CalgaryNext be funded?
The full cost of arena and stadium should be paid for by the Flames ownership group
A combination of the Flames organization and dierent levels of government should fund the project
Not sure

CALGARY GREENWAY

WHITBY

Most Accurate Pollster of the Calgary

Greenway by election.

Most Accurate Pollster of the

Whitby by election.

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA

Most Active Pollster of Saskatchewans

general election, top results within MoE.

Most Active Pollster of Manitobas general

election, top results within MoE.

Mainstreet is a national public research rm. With 20 years of political experience at all three
levels of government, President and CEO Quito Maggi is a respected commentator on Canadian
public aairs.
Dierentiated by its large sample sizes, Mainstreet Research has provided accurate snapshots of
public opinion, having predicted a majority NDP government in Alberta, a majority Liberal
government in British Columbia and a majority Liberal government in Ontario. Mainstreet has
been the most accurate polling rm in several by elections and the most recent Toronto mayoral
election. Most recently, Mainstreet was the only polling rm to correctly predict a Liberal majority
government in the 2015 federal election.

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