I’m sure most people living in Ottawa have heard of the “Friends of Lansdowne” group and its strong opposition to the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) and City of Ottawa plan to renovate Lansdowne Park. The group recently lost its second appeal to stop the redevelopment of Lansdowne and the return of the CFL to the city and now wants to try again, this time at the Supreme Court level. Should the appeal advance, it will cost the “friends” of Lansdowne and the city $50,000 each. According to the Ottawa Citizen, a total of $1.5 million has already been spent by both sides.
This money is being wasted because a small group of people are repeatedly taking city council to court when they know the outcome will be the same. As Einstein said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.
After having its last appeal rejected unanimously by the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Friends of Lansdowne is simply wasting time and money. There’s a reason that, according to the same article in the Citizen, there is no precedent in the history of Canada for a group to go to this extent to stall a stadium redevelopment.
Looking at Carleton, the Ravens new football team received $5 million in private contributions to get off the ground, proving there is financial support for the sport. The team has also made headlines by getting a potential all-star quarterback and nabbing a few coaches from long-time rival University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. The team has brought more attention to the school, and the CFL would do the same for Ottawa.
I believe that the redevelopment project is very beneficial to the city and can put the city among the top sport cities in the country. Do you remember when we hosted the Grey Cup? The city was full of enthusiasm and it brought people to Ottawa. The project would bring a large number of jobs to the city, both during construction and upon completion. Carleton was able to approve renovations to its football stadium and get its team back with very little opposition. The City of Ottawa and OSEG should have the same opportunity.
— Patrick Oakes
First-year geography
