SPORTS SPENDING PRIORITIES
What candidates will go to bat for
During an early campaign pit stop in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Denis Coderre stood in front of a large parking lot, confirmed it would soon be replaced with an aquatic centre, and started listing similar investments he’s made as Montreal mayor.
“There was a lot of work to do in Montreal when I took office,” Coderre said. “And that extended to our sports infrastructure — it was in need of some love.”
The city has invested $83.5 million to redo 10 arenas in different boroughs, he recalled. Another $13 million in an aquatic program and $7.8 million for 33 baseball diamonds.
“You’ve seen what sports can do,” Coderre boasted.
A former secretary of state for amateur sport while serving as a federal MP — and an avid sports fan — Coderre then explained his “one-two punch” approach to sports in Montreal: hosting sporting events and spending on infrastructure.
As Coderre runs for a second term as Montreal mayor, other municipal parties and candidates have questioned that strategy.
They’ve disputed whether his avowed love for baseball has hindered less popular sports in the city and challenged whether hosting major sporting events should be prioritized over spending at the grassroots level.
Here’s a brief overview of what the two main political parties in Montreal’s municipal election, Projet Montréal and Équipe Denis Coderre, are promising for sports in the city if things go their way on Nov. 5.
In late September, less than a week after municipal elections officially kicked off across Quebec, Montreal mayoral candidate and Projet Montréal leader Valérie Plante made one of her first truly headline-grabbing announcements of the young campaign.
Rolling out a novelty cheque for $500 million made out to Major League Baseball, which bore Coderre’s signature, Plante pledged not to spend Montreal taxpayers’ money on the construction of a new baseball stadium without their consent.
“We love baseball, and we want a team to come back to Montreal,” Plante said, alluding to Coderre’s long-standing calls for a new professional baseball team in Montreal. “But we’re not going to use Montrealers’ money without consulting them.”
The next day, during an interview on a local sports radio station, Plante was being tested on how she could fare against an outspoken and ever-present sports fan the likes of Coderre.
“I might watch less (sports), but I do a lot,” she answered. “I run, I swim. I use a lot of the city’s sports infrastructure — and yes, there’s missing money there.”
Plante went on to criticize Coderre for the new amphitheatre being built in Parc Jean-Drapeau and how its construction forced the closure of the park’s aquatic centre and the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
Both the centre and the track are popular destinations for amateur athletes in the city, she said.
“And they closed it without offering any alternatives,” she added. “That, for me, shows a big interest in one sport and a bigger disinterest in other sports.”
Plante is an avid cyclist and runner who believes in making it easier for Montrealers to lead an active lifestyle. That belief trickles down through her party’s sports platform.
“Our emphasis is more of an allaround systemic look at sports,” Projet Montréal’s spokesperson on sports and leisure, incumbent Sud-Ouest borough councillor Alain Vaillancourt, said in an interview.
The party, Vaillancourt said, wants to focus on improving infrastructure and ensuring sports remain accessible to all, young and old.
“We want to get away from just holding big sporting events in Montreal,” he said. “It doesn’t have to always be about organized sports.”
Citing Coderre’s investments in the city’s baseball diamonds, Vaillancourt commended the city for its work but said Projet would allocate money “more equitably” to different sports in boroughs across the city.
“We want to have a better distribution of the money to different types of sports,” he said. “Every borough has different needs.”
Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal candidate and Pierrefonds-Roxboro incumbent borough Mayor Dimitrios (Jim) Beis, Montreal’s executive committee member in charge of sports and leisure, said Coderre’s track record on sports speaks for itself.
During Coderre’s four years as mayor, the city has committed more than $200 million to sports infrastructure — be it arenas, pools, soccer fields or baseball diamonds.
“We’re projecting by the end of the arenas in 2020, we’re looking at having spent almost $270 million to update and upgrade facilities,” Beis said. “There are success stories across the island of Montreal.”
Among examples, Beis cited the city buying the CÉGEP Marie-Victorin sports centre for $18.5 million to open it up to residents and investing in creating a crosscountry skiing trail along the Lachine Canal.
In March, the city announced a $46-million investment over the next two years that included money for outdoor rinks, municipal pools, the TAZ skate park and outdoor soccer, tennis and rugby fields.
During the campaign, the party has reiterated plans for two more aquatic centres, in Lachine and Pierrefonds-Roxboro.
“These are projects, in my opinion, that aren’t electoral promises. They are projects we’ve had in the machine for the last four years,” Beis said. “We’ve worked
in a concerted way to allow us to make these announcements and say that now we’re realistically at the phase of design and building.”
As for those who criticize Coderre for bringing sporting events to Montreal instead of prioritizing local programs and infrastructure, Beis said it comes down to finding the right balance.
Projet Montréal has repeatedly accused Coderre of overspending and failing to disclose key information about the publicly funded, annual Formula E event, including how many people bought tickets to the electric-car race.
In August, Coderre had estimated the cost of the race at $24 million, spread out over six years of hosting the race.
“But when you look at the international sports that come in, the investment for those sports isn’t anywhere near what we spend at the grassroots for kids and families,” Beis said. “That’s the priority.”