Clareview Rec Centre naming rights to be sold after split council vote
A northeast Edmonton rec complex will be getting a new name after Edmonton city councillors voted 8-5 Monday morning to sell naming rights to the facility for a fee that will be kept private.
The Clareview Community Recreation Centre will become the Jumpstart Community Recreation Centre on March 31, 2023. It will be named after the Canadian Tire charity for at least 10 years.
"We need to find creative ways of raising revenue and this is one of the ways that we incrementally find different ways. I know it's not a huge amount of money, but every dollar adds," Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said.
After the vote, he said "specifics" of the deal including a final price "will be negotiated with Jumpstart."
Councillors agreed to not publicly disclose the exact figure that will be paid, in alignment with privacy legislation.
The city's asking price was reached after researching similar naming agreements at 20 facilities across Canada, officials said, including Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert and TransAlta Tri-Leisure in Spruce Grove.
The revenue from all of Edmonton's rec centres has fallen from $71 million a year pre-pandemic to an estimated $55 million a year now.
"If one were to be ideologically pure they wouldn't go this route, but this case makes sense as a bit of a pilot to see how it goes," Coun. Aaron Paquette said.
"It's not even so much the ideological purity here as much as the price. That we would be embarking on a path to sell five rec centres at $450,000, which is a rounding error in the grand scheme of our city budget. That's really concerning to me," Coun. Michael Janz said, referring to an earlier report that estimated how much the city could collect for naming rights.
Janz called the decision a "bridge too far" and a "slippery slope."
"I've not been pleased about this initiative to name public assets after private companies or private charities," he said during the meeting.
Janz voted against the motion, along with councillors Erin Rutherford, Jo-Anne Wright, Ashley Salvador and Anne Stevenson.
The city did an online survey and found that 62 per cent of respondents were "somewhat or very comfortable with the sale and temporary naming of select recreation facilities to offset the financial impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.