No Expo for You!

Ottawa has pulled its support for the Edmonton World Expo in 2017. Discuss.

The Harper government’s decision not to fund Edmonton’s bid to host the World Expo in 2017 is “comparable to being kicked in the groin,” writes Sun Media’s Graham Hicks. He argues that it is now clear that the Conservatives are taking Alberta’s support for granted, and it’s time to send them a message at the polls. Hicks’s anger is likely being felt by many Edmontonians, but his criticism of Edmonton MP and Conservative cabinet minister Rona Ambrose is dubious. “As minister of public works, she’s the most senior regional MP in Harper’s government. It is her job to champion the city in the corridors of power,” he writes. This logic is obviously problematic. What’s next, a couple of new army bases for Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s riding? A huge cash injection for Industry Minister Tony Clement’s riding? That would be an outrage, and would never, ever happen.

If the Conservatives are smart, writes the National Post’s Don Martin, they’ll use this refusal as precedent to deny funding to other cities with their hands out to Ottawa – especially Québec City, which is angling for a new NHL-ready hockey rink. He calls pulling the plug on the expo an “overdue display of fiscal backbone from a government which usually puts electoral gain ahead of political principle.” Many believe the Conservatives abandoned fiscal restraint when they unleashed the economic stimulus and the G20 spending, and Martin’s column suggests that turning off the taps to cities could shore up support with the party’s ideological base. But as Hicks’s column shows, it could paradoxically cost them in their regional stronghold.

The Post’s Stephen Taylor writes that the decision not to fund the expo was probably the right one, as similar fairs have shown huge cost overruns and “there is little evidence that a ‘world expo’ does enough to promote the host country outside of its own borders. Olympic Games, however, are seen to be a major international success by most outside observers.” Taylor’s theory is easy to test: just ask yourself who hosted the last world’s fair. If you know, you’re smarter than The Mark staff.