Grants to private business

[Waye Mason]

Have at me, fellas, who thinks McCartney was worth $750,000 in taxpayers money?

[Gravitas]

I do. I shared my thoughts on the Herald site under the name 'growingcity'.

[Waye Mason]

I suppose you support the CWG as well?  Spend the money, damn the torpedos?  Debt, whatever, our kids can pay it off?

Do you really think that Halifax "got on the map" because of one concert?

[Gravitas]

Waye, I don't have the chance to 'support' the CWG, because that opportunity for Halifax was killed through an unfortunate mixture of (admittedly) bad public relations management on the part of the bid committee, combined with a handful of loud and shortsighted naysayers who don't want Halifax to become anything more than it is, combined with a total void of political leadership. To answer the question I think you meant, however: yes. I DID support the bid for the CWG.

And no, Waye, it's not "Spend the money, damn the torpedos?  Debt, whatever, our kids can pay it off?" It's a case of wanting some of the kinds of benefits Vancouver just experienced by hosting the Olympics (albeit on a smaller scale). I don't really feel like detailing those benefits here and now, but if you really want me to, I will.

And no again, Waye, it's not that I believe one concert puts a city 'on the map'. I believe that hosting major acts brings publicity (and therefore international name-recognition) to a city, which is important to businesses here. I also believe - sorry, KNOW - that major acts also bring money into a city from outside that city. Money that grows the economy. Money that wouldn't otherwise come here. Money that probably wouldn't have gone elsewhere if it hadn't come here. And money that might just come back (hey! maybe even during a local music or art festival!), because sometimes that money hasn't been here before and didn't know what a cool and interesting place Halifax actually was.

I sense that on this, we may have to agree to disagree.

[Waye Mason]

Looks that way.  If they had any balls over at WTC they would tell us the percentage of tickets sold out of HRM (they have the Postal Codes for advances).  That would help establish the reality of the economic impact.