Calgarians split on arena deal, Edmontonians hate it, rest of Alberta mostly opposed: Vote Compass

The plan to use $330 million in provincial funds as part of a $1.2-billion project that includes a new arena for the Calgary Flames faces strong opposition from Albertans, as a whole, but sentiment is more evenly split among Calgarians.

That's according to weighted results of roughly 7,500 people who responded to the Vote Compass tool, which was developed by a team of political scientists and aims to help users navigate the political landscape before the May 29 Alberta election.

Overall, 59 per cent of respondents disapproved of the deal, with 40 per cent "strongly" disapproving and 19 per cent "somewhat" disapproving.

That compares to 26 per cent who approved — 11 percent "strongly" and 15 per cent "somewhat."

But the responses were quite different, depending on where people live.

Calgarians were far more likely to approve of the deal, with sentiment roughly split between approving and disapproving.

Edmontonians, who received no provincial funding in their 2013 deal for a new Oilers arena, overwhelming disapproved of the deal for Calgary.

And people living outside the major cities also opposed the deal, although not quite as strongly as Edmontonians. 

Calgarians have a long and complicated history with their NHL hockey team and the idea of using public funds for a new arena.

Back in 2015, the Calgary Flames ownership group announced a $900-million plan, dubbed "CalgaryNext," to build not just an arena, but also a stadium to house the Calgary Stampeders football team (which it also owns), asking for $440 million in support from the municipal government.

That proposal withered and died.

It was succeeded in 2019 by a new plan to build an arena only, near the site of the existing Saddledome, with city council initially