So far the provincial government’s sales pitch for a new dome in Regina has sounded too good to be true. And it is.  A number of the “benefits” currently being touted by the provincial government deserve closer examination so that taxpayers know the full story.

First, the provincial government claims no tax dollars will be used to pay for the dome. A choice to skim the profits of provincial crowns and gambling revenue would make this technically true.  However, the province’s $10.7 budget depends on $776 million from those sources, so any reduction to their proceeds would still affect the province’s bottom line. As well, redirecting gaming dollars means community-level charities, cultural organizations, and amateur sports will have to do without.

Second, it has been suggested that no debt will be incurred. Given the high cost of building a stadium, it’s hard to see how crowns wouldn’t take on more debt if they had to foot the bill. Our crowns will already incur $100 million in debt this fiscal year. As every cabinet minister knows, if crown debt goes up, so does the provincial government’s net debt.

Further, by using the dividends the province receives from its crowns, it will reduce the funds it has to pay down debt. Finance Minister Gantefoer has already acknowledged his budgeted surplus of $424 million will be less than expected due to lower potash prices. With the provincial debt at $4.2 billion, the province would need to dedicate 100 per cent of such surpluses over an entire decade just to pay it off.

All this says nothing of the federal government, nor the City of Regina, or even the Roughriders. How exactly are they going to finance a new stadium?

The third questionable claim regards all the “economic spinoffs” from building a dome. Academic economists such as Brad Humphries at the University of Alberta have shown time and again that publicly funded sports facilities inevitably fail to spur the economy as promised. The recent provincial report is especially doubtful, given that the projections are solely based on the impact of the Fargodome, a North Dakota facility that seats 10,000 less than our current stadium. Important considerations such as land costs and reduced usage of Regina’s Evraz Place, which recently expanded for $60 million taxpayer dollars, were given a passing mention.

Finally, the province assures taxpayers it will pursue options with an open mind. However, actions speak louder than words. If disclosure is any indication, one has to wonder. The province rebuffed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s freedom of information requests for the full text of its recent stadium report. Incredibly, taxpayers still can’t see the results of the City of Regina’s engineering audit of Mosaic Stadium, nor the conceptual design for extensive renovations that the Roughriders submitted to the city early in 2008.

It may be that the dome dreamers don’t want to aid any argument that the current stadium is in good shape or that a renovated Mosaic Stadium could be desirable. We know who those dreamers are. A dome is the stated preference of the premier of Saskatchewan, the mayor of Regina, and the board chair for the Roughriders. It’s something Stadium Consultants International, Global Spectrum, and PCL have in mind as they author the next stadium report at a cost of $1 million.

Already, Chris Reilly, principal of SCI has promised, “We’ll do some 3-D renderings inside and out. We’ll give you a very clear picture of how spectacular this facility could be.” Because Global Spectrum might operate such a facility, and PCL could build it, it’s hard to see why the report would say anything but what its authors want to hear. It is sheer hope indeed to think the government has a mind more open than the dome they’re already pushing.