Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstaleness
If it is such a huge money maker down the road then why aren't other companies jumping in there to get their name on it.
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This line of reasoning is far too oversimplified to be useful.
Part of the government's mandate is to promote economic activity, not necessarily to turn a profit (the government always loses money - it is not a business). Often things that are great for the economy at large would not be particularly profitable for a single business owner because of an inability to capture spinoffs and taxes. There are also plenty of things that are good for the public but do not generate income and so would not be undertaken by private enterprise (e.g. assistance for people with no money). Finally, some industries are also natural monopolies and so are uncompetitive and unfair to consumers without government intervention. In all of these cases, government involvement might be justified regardless of what the private sector is doing.
It is normal in North America for the government to be involved in funding the development of convention centres. There are private convention centres but they are much more limited in terms of scale and in terms of where they are located (you might find big ones in places like Las Vegas, but they're not going to magically spring up in Halifax). If Halifax wants to be a regional centre for this industry, it needs to invest in public convention infrastructure. Otherwise, governments in PEI and NB will continue to invest and Halifax will be left behind. There would still be private convention spaces in such a scenario (e.g. Cunard Centre). These would be more profitable individually but would not be as large and would not generate as much activity for the economy at large.
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