That whole Oski-wi-wi, Oski-wa-wa rant just wouldn’t ring right in the nation’s capital, anyway — certainly not with old-time Ottawa football fans.

And one of the businessmen set on returning the Canadian Football League to Ottawa in 2013 says the stadium troubles the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are having with their city council in no way affects Ottawa’s expansion franchise.

So while the Tiger-Cats may have no choice but to look elsewhere if a stadium site that suits all parties cannot be found, Jeff Hunt says Ottawa is not an option.

“This isn’t the first time this has come up,” Hunt said Thursday. “We are not a candidate. We will stick with our expansion franchise.

“I hope they will find a way to make it work in Hamilton. It would be a shame to see them move, but we are committed to our expansion franchise.”

Hunt, who is one of four key partners in the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group has been chasing a CFL expansion franchise since 2008 when the OSEG group first introduced its concept. The master plan in Ottawa was built around rejuvenating the entire park, complete with commercial and residential development, and a re-built stadium and arena.

The Tiger-Cats, meanwhile, just want a stadium to replace the 80-year-old Ivor Wynne Stadium venue, and were hopeful the successful bid by Hamilton for the 2015 Pan-Am Games would bring about a new park to play at.

Fast on the heels of the Hamilton city council votes this week against two potential sites favoured by the football club, the city of Milton, Ont., became the first to offer Ticats owner Bob Young a new home for his club.

And there’s little doubt other nearby municipalities will follow suit, or at least kick the tires.

The club had hoped to abandon Ivor Wynne Stadium following the Pan-Am Games.

Team owner Bob Young has suggested he will need to move the franchise if a new facility is not built in the next few years.

Hamilton City Council first passed on one site in the city’s west end currently owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, saying the land was too costly to develop.

That site involved a steep price for the land itself, a cost to remove tracks and also a cost of relocation for a CPR warehouse.

The total cost might have been between $70 million and $90 million. Council also voted against looking at a Confederation Park site, which the club was in favour of for both its proximity to the Queen Elizabeth Way and the scenery provided by Lake Ontario.

Council is to go back to the table Jan. 12 to re-think a West Harbour downtown location that the club has already rejected. If all that wasn’t enough pressure, the organizing committee for the Games has set a Feb. 1 deadline for the city to put forth a stadium plan.

Brampton, Markham and Mississauga have already expressed an interest in being the site for a Games stadium.

Ottawa, meanwhile, remains on schedule to return to the league in 2013, with work on a refurbished Frank Clair Stadium to possibly begin next spring.

Ottawa Citizen

dcampbell@ottawacitizen.com