corporations are racing to develop nanotechnology and to patent processes out of it. One quick search on your web browser will turn up at least 631 sites on nanotechnology.)

Mooney staggered the Commission by describing a situation already out of control, running on its own free market energies, in which "democracy" and "accountability" may now be only a pious dream. The Orwellian nightmare is upon us. On the top of the heap sit the corporations, ungoverned, amoral and owning everything.

Mooney also has some harsh words for the church: "In general, the 'faith community' has lacked courage, competence and conviction. It is entering an era in which the nature of life and the dimensions of living will change possibly beyond recognition. It must prepare itself--and not through prayer alone. The diplomatic alliances of the faith community have been disgraceful."

(Carl Ridd was one of the members of Thin Ice, the group whose critical analysis of the "Jets -Arena" deal in the mid 1990s became a catalyst of civic opposition to that fantasy. He now raises these questions about the current Moose-Arena proposal.)

The present arena proposal is far less injurious to the public good than the Jets-Arena proposal of a few years ago, for the main reason that the Jets had no chance of surviving in the NHL without a $10-15 million annual subsidy from the public. The purposes of our small community would have been radically skewed to support our team of millionaires skating against the far bigger bankrolls in New York, LA, Florida and the like.

That said, the present arena proposal, while it might, in balance, be "worth it" (depending on your point of view and several iffy possibilities), is unpleasantly reminiscent of the last (bad) go-round. For two main reasons.

First, the hard questions are not being asked or answered. For example, the Moose will be playing in the AWL this fall, not the ILL (which is folding). The AWL is a more expensive league (higher salaries, no salary cap, touted now as "NHL #2)-- and potentially very much more expensive. The Moose are the anchor tenant in the new arena. Will our anchor hold in the storms of corporate sporting life? Etc.

Moreover, it is doubtful whether the proposed new arena has enough dates (125 annually at the moment). The Copps Coliseum in Hamilton requires 225-250 to break even. And in Winnipeg the Convention Centre (which will be more a rival than a partner) is only two blocks away.

If the small retail and food businesses inside the arena get tax breaks as an inducement, will that not create a competitive advantage for them that injures the small businesses just outside?

Have you noticed that in the widely proclaimed 70%-30% private-public split in the financing of the arena by far the largest percentage of the private "contribution" is in the form of an IOU? ($60 million of the $85 million private contribution is debt load.) Experts warn that when it comes to arenas these debt loads are the killers after the initial honeymoon. How much real private money is actually on the table? Who will be left holding the bag if the team or the arena doesn't work out? (One guess.)

The second unpleasant similarity to the last time is that our governments (Province and City) once again present a totalitarian face; a kind one, maybe, but belonging to people utterly determined to have their way. If they'd say to us, "Look, citizens, we know it's risky," and lift up the hard questions for us to consider, and then go on to say, "But it's worth the chance, let's go for it," we'd be more inclined to go. Citizens and partners. Instead, our Premier and Mayor have turned into rabid uncritical boosters before our very eyes, give simple condescending answers to important questions, do everything they can to silence dissent and manage the news (including an absolutely coercive timetable that limits alternatives--no business plan, but the bricks of Eaton's will be lying on Portage Ave by July.)

According to the only (informal, unscientific) poll so far done, over 80% of the people do not favour the current proposal. But those who have been planning in secret, including our own elected representatives, want a silver bullet for down town and intend to get it, without their electors being allowed to get in the way. This failure of democracy, and our leaders' palpable disbelief in it, is the single worst omen for the success of the project.

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