By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Several Chatham-Kent councillors are upset about being “shut out” of an exploratory meeting between municipal officials and the Ontario Hockey League.
The issue, raised by councillors Rhonda Jubenville, Micheal Bondy and Alysson Storey at council on Mar. 9, was in relation to an online meeting between Mayor Darrin Canniff, CAO Michael Duben and OHL Commissioner Bryan Crawford.
Seven councillors and other staff also attended the virtual session.
Reported by a local media outlet after Canniff brought it up in an interview, the meeting came about after the municipality was approached by the OHL to discuss the league’s status and to discuss the potential for a franchise in Chatham-Kent.
As part of the interview, Canniff stated Chatham-Kent is ideally positioned to host the OHL, but lacks a proper arena to accommodate a new team.
Jubenville, who brought the matter forward in open council, said she’s received a “plethora of phone calls” about the possibility of an OHL team relocating here, as well as the construction of a new OHL arena.
Jubenville told council she was “at a loss” as how to respond as she had no knowledge about the meeting or what was proposed.
In response, deputy CAO Dave Taylor, said a meeting was held with the mayor, the CAO and several councillors, calling it an “early exploratory consultation” about the possibility of an OHL franchise coming to Chatham-Kent.
However, Jubenville said she was stumped as to how the councillors who attended the meeting were chosen and who was excluded.
“I know it’s preliminary information, but now I feel I’m at a disadvantage that if this comes to council at a later time, that some of my colleagues will have had received information that I did not receive,” Jubenville said. “Is this how we’re doing business in Chatham-Kent now? I’m caught off guard by all of this.”
Storey’s comments mirrored Jubenville.
“If we have councillors or the mayor meeting with private business owners, without the rest of council, without council knowing that, that does come across as very non-transparent,” Storey said. “The optics of this are not ideal. This is not OK.”
Pressing the mayor, Storey asked who the councillors were and how they were selected.
Canniff responded by saying councillors who are interested in an arena were invited but stressed no decisions were made.
“There’s no way on earth we’re going to get anywhere close to that by election time,” Canniff reiterated, adding that when the prospect becomes “real,” council will be informed.
Bondy wasn’t pleased either and said inviting only seven councillors and not the whole of council was a “really bad look” that does not “improve transparency or accountability.
“So, what happens is that this stuff comes out in the press and we are blindsided by it,” Bondy explained, adding he doesn’t think the current council should be dealing with the issue.
But some councillors said they didn’t have a problem with the way the issue was handled, as high-level meetings between private developers and staff are a regular occurrence in municipal politics.
According to Chatham Coun. Brock McGregor, who attended the OHL session, he didn’t see a problem with transparency.
“I expect the mayor and CAO have many meetings that I don’t know about,” McGregor said, adding “It’s the time of year when things sometimes get political.
“Certainly, if those meetings happened without me, I wouldn’t be offended,” he said.
West Kent Coun. Lauren Anderson said she wasn’t at the meeting but is excited about the possibility of an OHL franchise.
“I’m happy to see that those talks are still being had and a potential deal is still on the table,” Anderson told council.
North Kent Coun. Jamie McGrail said the issue offers a takeaway.
“Going forward, lessons learned and I think we should all understand where we are,” McGrail told council.
“It’s not about the hockey, it’s not about the team, it’s about everyone understanding what’s going on.”
In December, council gave unanimous approval to the Chatham-Kent Parks and Recreation Master Plan to strategically address C-K’s recreation needs over the next 10 years.
Currently, Chatham-Kent maintains 10 ice pads, but local officials have long contended a large two-pad multi-use arena is needed to accommodate Chatham-Kent’s growing needs.
The master plan earmarked $2 million to study various recreational opportunities, however, Jubenville and Storey both stressed that they understood the study was to include all opportunities, not just an arena.
According to the master plan, a new 5,000 seat arena would cost an estimated $220 million.
