We can’t always get what we want.
Sometimes when things don’t go as planned and Plan A begins to unravel we have to switch to Plan B.
Business leaders call this a contingency plan and proper long-term planning often includes an alternate course, as problems and changes appear.
With very large projects requiring hundreds of millions of dollars it would be prudent to anticipate and prepare for these.
When Kenora Conservative MP Greg Rickford announced that our new event centre does not qualify for Building Canada funding I thought it was a classic Plan B scenario.
Surely city leaders were ready to forge ahead with alternate proposals – the federal “Nay” should have been easy to predict.
But Mayor Hobbs confronted the funding shortfall by reasserting that this was his Plan A and he was sticking to it.
At first I thought Mr. Hobbs might not understand the concept of a Plan B but his other comments indicated he was vaguely aware of the need to change.
He name dropped Michael Gravelle as a champion of the cause but that could be a tall tale.
The mayor admitted that no one has told him where the funding is coming from and as we all know, our have-not province ran out of money long ago.
Some of his other comments suggest that if there is a Plan B it’s being made up on the fly.
He said, “We even suggested that if we get $30 million and then $5 million maybe…we could do it over two, three years.”
“We may just have to build a hockey rink with a smaller convention centre.”
“The city might come back with an $80 to $85 million Plan B.”
Mr. Hobbs said he already asked Tim Commisso to come up with a Plan B – it might be time to brief the mayor with the details.
Whatever the new proposal might be, it sounds very convoluted right now.
It reminds me of Jean Chretien’s famous “the proof is the proof” theory.
Still, I am encouraged by the comments of Coun. Frank Pullia who reacted to the funding announcement like a man with a contingency plan.
His support depends on a solid business plan and if a scaled-down version of the event centre is proposed it must also meet that requirement.
He also wisely suggested that we consider affordability (now and in the future) in view of a growing $17 million infrastructure deficit.
Coun. Shelby Ch’ng had another inspired idea to use the Building Canada Fund in creative ways that benefit the whole community – other than an event centre.
I appreciate the fresh ideas and positive outlook from these two new council members – they are still in touch with the concerns of average citizens.
The rest of council should embrace this new input – that cloistered group of tired incumbents has been isolated from the real world for too long.
I always assumed that council was going ahead with their event centre regardless of any public concerns but from my perspective, the game has changed.
This isn’t the only questionable development in the downtown waterfront area, what with the liens and the non-payments and such.
We’ve been told to ignore all that, that it’s just their way of doing business.
You have to admire Mayor Hobb’s confidence that his Plan A will be the one.
Once the event centre is built he is already planning to demolish the Fort William Gardens.
He seems to be torn between the urge to create and the urge to destroy.
I am anxiously waiting to hear if the plan is still the plan.
