Slapshot fired at arena cuts

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2020 (2189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They came for a hockey game, and then a protest broke out.

Well, they came for a protest, too.

A group of about 40 people, most affiliated with the grassroots organization Budget For All, arrived at True North Square Sunday afternoon, carrying Koho and Sherwood sticks and passing a tennis ball back and forth. The gathering was meant to be fun, but it was also meant to draw attention to various cuts to recreation — including several arena closures — proposed in the city’s upcoming budget.

Among the arenas who face possible closure are Sargent Park, Charles A. Barbour, Bertrand, Maginot, and Terry Sawchuk, and other recreation facilities facing reduced funding are the St. James Civic Centre and the Grant Park Recreational Complex.

Since January, Budget For All has held a number of creative demonstrations to oppose cuts to what it calls “life-sustaining” programming — a pool party at City Hall, zine making at the Millennium Library — and the ball hockey game was the latest attempt to show what it says the city stands to lose if the budget is approved.

Meanwhile, the game was held at True North Square, a space funded in part by a multi-million-dollar subsidy through Winnipeg’s tax increment financing program, as well as a hefty provincial investment

Billie Macdonald was the first player to arrive. A week earlier, Macdonald went to the Millennium and was shocked to learn of the proposed cuts, so that’s why they braved the wind to play at the impromptu outdoor rink.

As soon as Macdonald set foot on the square, a security official who said he’d been hired by True North approached them. The official was calm, but said there was concern the light game could lead to structural damage, like broken windows. He asked Macdonald to consider leaving. In short order, a trio of police officers arrived.

A moment later, organizers walked into the square, carrying two nets and a bundle of hockey sticks. A “rink” about 20 feet long was set up, and the game began with a faceoff shortly after 1 p.m. Nobody took any slapshots.

Among the players was Colin Bonnycastle, a former associate professor of social work with the University of Manitoba. Bonnycastle said he was concerned by the cuts on the table, and the fact that private places like True North Square are funded while small, vital arenas face uncertain futures.

“We need to expand these services, not cut them,” he said, taking a break from the action. “This is the first time I’ve held a stick since I was 15.”

A number of the players said something similar, but were spurred to play by the realization that some communities might soon not be able to play at all.

‘Today we’re saying, Mayor Bowman and council, say no to these cuts. Say no to closing six arenas, say no to a 50 per cent cut to leisure guide programming’– organizer Jake Nikkel

“Today we’re saying, Mayor Bowman and council, say no to these cuts. Say no to closing six arenas, say no to a 50 per cent cut to leisure guide programming,” said Jake Nikkel, an organizer of the event. “These cuts would have deep and damaging effects on our communities. You need to properly fund communities.”

The subtext of the simple game of shinny, explained Owen Toews, an organizer with Budget For All, was that while city programs face cuts, True North Sports and Entertainment received tax breaks in constructing its downtown Square. 

“That money should be going into the general revenue for pools, libraries, arenas, and trees,” he said. The Square, along with its towers, have some of the country’s wealthiest investors, Toews said, and they shouldn’t receive any tax relief.

While the game went on, as many as seven security officials and True North employees arrived. One True North worker told Nikkel that the company was concerned the game could cause damage to the water feature installed in the plaza ground, or to its granite paving stones.

“We would ask you not to play ball hockey,” he began. The gathering was fine, he said, but the ball hockey could cause damage to “the significant investment.”

“We’ve been asked to stop playing hockey,” Nikkel said into his megaphone, the game about to be cut short after just 20 minutes. 

The organizers picked up the nets, collected the sticks and tennis balls, and left True North Square without any hassle or any damage done to the property.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca