02 Jul Halifax business-owners endorse Ramia’s war on citizens

Joe Ramia, government-financed promoter of Halifax’s controversy-plagued convention centre, has persuaded 300 business owners to endorse his campaign to bully project opponents into submission on threat of financial ruin.

The business owners added their names to a full-page ad in Wednesday’s Halifax Chronicle-Herald that tacitly endorses Ramia’s lawsuit against the non-profit Heritage Trust and all of its volunteer board members.

Groups like the Heritage Trust must focus on their own mandate and leave the business of economic development to those who step up to advance our city. The business leaders of this region encourage economic investment and development that will boost regional prosperity. It’s time to be bold.

Leave the business of economic development to developers. Trust them to do what is right for downtown Halifax. Trust them so fully as to abandon the lawful right to make representations and seek judicial review. What could possibly go wrong with letting the Joe Ramias of the world make development decisions in Nova Scotia without citizen input?

Unlike many of Nova Centre’s critics,  I would love to see Halifax build an attractive, prosperous convention centre. My enthusiasm is constrained by the fact our existing, unattractive convention centre operates at less than 50 percent capacity, and by persistent reports of a continent-wide glut of money-losing convention facilities.

Against the faint hope for a successful convention centre that could contribute to the province’s economy are clear drawbacks to Ramia’s plan:

• There is far too much money in the project: $51.4 from Ottawa and $56 million each from Nova Scotia and HRM, with the last two also on the hook for part of any future losses—hardly a remote prospect.
• By investing so heavily in one developer’s private office complex, the three governments have laid their heavy thumbs on the office market scale, putting every other developer in the city at a competitive disadvantage.
• Although public objections induced Ramia to move the convention portion of the building to the ground floor from its bizarre initial location in the basement, the revised design of the centre’s street level still undermines efforts to make Halifax more attractive to pedestrians and shoppers.
• A showcase development of this scale should probably be on the waterfront, rather than the side of Citadel Hill.

Altogether, there is much that is opposition-worthy in Ramia’s project. Extensive public debate and even legal challenges are what any modern developer should expect in a democratic city.

That said, I agree with those who believe the project is now a fait accompli, making continued opposition strategically dubious. The Heritage Trust would be wise to consider the widespread fatigue its tactics have engendered, particularly its obsession with view planes, even among those who share its desire to retain Halifax’s historic character.

Likewise Ramia should reconsider his plan to bully lawful citizen opponents with threats of financial ruin. It is both unbecoming and unworthy.