Last week, the LeBreton Flats consultations took centre stage.
Both DCDLS and RendezVous LeBreton had an opportunity to present their vision for the Nation’s Capital in front of thousands of eager Ottawa residents. Now the focus shifts to the National Capital Commission as they get set to make a decision that will shape the future of our city.
But not until the week-long battle for public support.
The NCC is going to have the final say in this process but you can tell that both sides are set on winning over the public as much as possible in the next week or so. According to the NCC guidelines, both sides have until midnight on February 8th to speak publicly about their bids. And until then, you can expect to hear a whole lot from both camps.
The DCDLS group was particularly busy yesterday trying to shift some of the public perception about their bid.
First, the confusion over Molson’s involvement. It obviously didn’t look great for the DCDLS bid when a key sponsor pulled the plug on one of their more intriguing ideas only a few days into the process. If DCDLS was exaggerating about one thing, is it possible that other elements of their swing-for-the-fences proposals were also stretching the truth a little bit? Not so fast. Yesterday, an article in the Citizen (citing a leaked letter) showed that only a coupe months ago Molson appeared quite excited at the possibility of partnering with the DCDLS group if they were successful in their LeBreton bid.
Can’t imagine the Ottawa Senators were thrilled to see a key sponsor in talks with their LeBreton competitor.
The DevCore group is also doing their best to shift the out-of-towners vs. local guys narrative by explaining that more than 50% of the investment in their proposal is apparently Ottawa-based. In attempting to win over the public, it certainly helps if you can play up the local element. You sort of wonder if at some point in the next week, we may hear from André Desmarais and Guy Laliberté- and their specific interest in this project.
And then maybe the most significant leak of the day as late last night we got confirmation that the DCDLS group is very much interested in buying the Ottawa Senators if they win the bid. Not the least bit surprising but the timing is important because it makes their plans a little bit clearer to the public and more importantly, to the NCC.
From the RendezVous LeBreton group, we’ve already seen a couple prominent endorsements (Here and Here) that certainly help their cause. There was also an interesting interview with John Ruddy. one of the key players in the RendezVous Group, talking about the importance of Government incentive programs in their proposal.
Safe to assume we’ll see more of this in the next week too.
Game Day post coming in a little bit.
