Alberta divided on Calgary's new arena deal, ThinkHQ survey suggests

A new poll suggests Albertans have mixed feelings over a $1.2-billion hockey arena and event centre in Calgary, which was announced less than a week before the province heads into an election.

Last week, Premier Danielle Smith, along with Mayor Jyoti Gondek, arena committee chair Sonya Sharp and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), announced details of the new deal that would see the iconic Saddledome scrapped and new building put up in its place.

To pay for it, the city will be coming up with $537 million, CSEC will pay $356 million, and the province will cover $300 million – for roads, sidewalks, reclamation and other infrastructure – as well as up to $30 million for a community arena at the site.

ThinkHQ, in an exclusive poll for CTV News, asked Albertans a series of questions in an online survey conducted in the days after the announcement and found that 50 per cent of respondents are against the idea, with 43 per cent in favour of it.

Marc Henry, author of the ThinkHQ survey, however, thinks the arena isn't a very good campaign issue.

"It divides people. It splits them down the middle," he told CTV Morning Live Calgary. "You have slightly more in favour (in Calgary) than are opposed.

"Realistically, I don't think funding the arena gets the UCP a single vote in Calgary. It may actually cost them some votes in Edmonton."

There are plenty of other better issues to campaign on, he added.

"Issues in Calgary like crime and policing, public safety and public disorder are definitely higher on the public's agenda," he said.

"There's a lot of issues for the parties to talk about if they want. If the past month is any indication, they don't necessarily talk about those issues – there's been a lot of mud slung already."

ThinkHQ surveyed 789 Albertans between April 26 and 29.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of this size is +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.