EDMONTON, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is applauding the Harper government’s decision not to support the City of Edmonton’s Expo 2017 bid.

“Citizens of Edmonton and the province of Alberta should be thanking the federal government showing leadership and saying no to a three-month party when governments at all levels are running deficits,” said CTF-Alberta director Scott Hennig. “The federal government is running up their debt at a rate of $124 million per day, to say yes to helping fund a $2-$3 billion party would have been reckless.”

Basically since day one, the CTF has opposed the taxpayer funding of Edmonton’s Expo 2017 bid, citing the enormous cost for an event that has few, if any, tangible benefits. A petition opposing taxpayer funding for Expo 2017 was launched by the CTF in 2009 and most recently, the CTF surveyed Edmonton city council candidates as to their support for the Expo.

"Considering that the Alberta government is currently running the largest deficit in the province’s history, they should follow the federal government’s excellent lead and say no to Expo 2017 as well,” continued Hennig.

“If both the federal government and City of Calgary can see that Expo 2017 had the potential to be a giant white elephant, it’s time for the province and the City of Edmonton to take off the blinders and officially end the bid,” said Hennig. "This is especially true considering there’s no guarantee that costs, for things like security, aren’t going to rocket up like they did with the most recent Olympics,” continued Hennig.

The CTF applauded the City of Calgary for pulling their bid on Expo 2017 last year. At the time, the former Mayor of Calgary, Dave Bronconnier, said: "we are not prepared to ask taxpayers to cover a potential $1 billion shortfall."

“We’re hopeful the Harper government’s new found fiscal sanity will extend to saying no to projects like new NHL hockey arenas in Quebec City and Edmonton, among many other things,” concluded Hennig.