There is a letter from Roger Hunt, the Oshawa Generals hockey team Vice President and General Manager on the Monday June 15, 2020 Finance Committee Agenda.
Mr. Hunt is asking the City "to provide $350,000 in-kind and cash value to support the Generals bid for hosting the 2021 Memorial Cup.
Well, there certainly are a variety of factors for City of Oshawa Council members to consider with this ASK from the Oshawa Generals. To provide or not to provide all or some, and when the Oshawa Generals Vice Pres and General Manager says Open up Oshawa and Durham to fans from around the world....well what will the Durham Region 'provide' ?
February 6, 2020 Oshawa council passed a motion (DS-20-39) to "support the bid in principle, without any financial commitments at this time."
But a few days later the Mayor had this to say in the Oshawa This Week newspaper: “OUR UNDERSTANDING is they’re going to need additional space for video replay and an expansion to the press box area in order to accommodate national press.”
I'm not too sure who the 'our' the Mayor was referring to in that quote is, because it seems not all Council members were privy to information that would enable them to achieve that 'understanding'.
And he went on..."There are a number of issues that would have to be worked out during the organizing process – not just with Oshawa, but with the Region of Durham too.
“There’s road closures, there’s use of public transit, there’s police, there’s EMS, there’s fire, there’s requirements inside the arena, there’s use of other (Oshawa) facilities for practice time, you’ve got scouts and people. There’s a lot to it; it’s become quite an event,” said the mayor.
He said it will bring $15M in economic activity. Note: that was a month before the COVID-19 shutdown all hockey games, and imposed social distancing...the promoters of sporting events always claim the financial impacts will be stellar but measuring the impact can be problematic. In fact, a recent research report states that "many of the methodological approaches employed to assess impact, including Economic Impact, have been heavily criticized for overestimation."
I genuinely believe the Memorial Cup in Oshawa will be a wonderful experience, fun, exciting and helpful to the community...I would just caution stating it will bringing $15M in economic activity.
Just glancing at the Region of Durham's website now and it seems when the Oshawa Generals attempted a bid in 2017 for the 2018 Memorial Cup, the Region agreed to a financial contribution of $157,200 of in-kind services.
So perhaps similar to 3 years ago, the Oshawa Generals are looking for HALF A MILLION from the City of Oshawa and the Region of Durham.
Mr. Hunt is asking the City "to provide $350,000 in-kind and cash value to support the Generals bid for hosting the 2021 Memorial Cup.
Well, there certainly are a variety of factors for City of Oshawa Council members to consider with this ASK from the Oshawa Generals. To provide or not to provide all or some, and when the Oshawa Generals Vice Pres and General Manager says Open up Oshawa and Durham to fans from around the world....well what will the Durham Region 'provide' ?
February 6, 2020 Oshawa council passed a motion (DS-20-39) to "support the bid in principle, without any financial commitments at this time."
But a few days later the Mayor had this to say in the Oshawa This Week newspaper: “OUR UNDERSTANDING is they’re going to need additional space for video replay and an expansion to the press box area in order to accommodate national press.”
I'm not too sure who the 'our' the Mayor was referring to in that quote is, because it seems not all Council members were privy to information that would enable them to achieve that 'understanding'.
And he went on..."There are a number of issues that would have to be worked out during the organizing process – not just with Oshawa, but with the Region of Durham too.
“There’s road closures, there’s use of public transit, there’s police, there’s EMS, there’s fire, there’s requirements inside the arena, there’s use of other (Oshawa) facilities for practice time, you’ve got scouts and people. There’s a lot to it; it’s become quite an event,” said the mayor.
He said it will bring $15M in economic activity. Note: that was a month before the COVID-19 shutdown all hockey games, and imposed social distancing...the promoters of sporting events always claim the financial impacts will be stellar but measuring the impact can be problematic. In fact, a recent research report states that "many of the methodological approaches employed to assess impact, including Economic Impact, have been heavily criticized for overestimation."
I genuinely believe the Memorial Cup in Oshawa will be a wonderful experience, fun, exciting and helpful to the community...I would just caution stating it will bringing $15M in economic activity.
Just glancing at the Region of Durham's website now and it seems when the Oshawa Generals attempted a bid in 2017 for the 2018 Memorial Cup, the Region agreed to a financial contribution of $157,200 of in-kind services.
So perhaps similar to 3 years ago, the Oshawa Generals are looking for HALF A MILLION from the City of Oshawa and the Region of Durham.