Readers offer their opinions on estimates for SaskTel Centre renovations to justify a new downtown Saskatoon arena and Canada’s housing crisis.
Apparently, one of the reasons for the $300-million estimate required to upgrade SaskTel Centre is that the roof needs to be raised to structurally support more sound equipment for concerts and accompanying pyrotechnics and possibly improving the acoustics. If this is all true, will the proposed new arena meet these requirements?
Perhaps a new arena should be an open-air arena … no roof! Like Country Thunder, you have unlimited capability of sound production and blazing pyrotechnics when holding concerts. Secondly, an open-air arena would qualify as a host for NHL outdoor hockey, a growing popular demand.
Any occurrence of snow in the new arena would mean that the city removes the snow with the inauguration of a snow removal budget. As stupid as the notion of an open-air arena is, is it any more stupid than raising the roof of SaskTel Centre for a limited number of concerts at a prohibitive cost?
Ron Niekamp, Saskatoon
Landlords play role in lack of housing
I am writing in response to a CBC TV report on the loss of affordable housing units in Canada. The report indicates that a major contributor to this phenomena is something called “financialized landlords.”
Huge investment companies, like Starlight Investments, the company referenced in the CBC report, buy up older, large rental properties that rent to low-income tenants.
They then find various ways to enforce evictions, make some repairs and modest upgrades, take advantage of recent changes in government regulations, and the absence of any federal government involvement in low-cost housing and increase rents to the maximum under the law and rent to tenants in a higher income bracket to receive a higher return on investments.
There is a United Nations report from February of 2023 called “Who Cares Wins,” along with a great deal of literature under the label of environment, social, governance and the Moral Duties of Business.
The one immediate thing we can do is inform ourselves and, if you feel as I do, redeem any investments we may have in these investment companies that seek to maximize investment returns in this way.
Don Barss, Saskatoon
Beware of promises from politicians in elections
All you need to know before you vote: Politicians say things. They get elected. They forget. New politicians catch on fast.
Syl White, Saskatoon
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