No Redblacks practice Sunday as CFL, CFLPA contract talks break down
No Redblacks practice Sunday as CFL, CFLPA contract talks break down
No Redblacks practice Sunday as CFL, CFLPA contract talks break down
The Ottawa Redblacks will not be practicing Sunday as CFL players walk out amid a contract dispute.
Talks between the CFL and the CFL Players’ Association broke down Saturday following a full day of negotiations Friday.
While training camps were scheduled to begin Sunday, the union urged players to participate in a work stoppage starting at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Players with the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks will not join the work stoppage Sunday because of provincial labour laws, but are expected to walk off the field as soon as they are able.
The Redblacks said in a brief statement Sunday morning that there would be no practice and no media availability. It’s unclear how long the players will be off the field and it’s not known when the league and the union will meet next.
Schedule update, May 15:
There is no @REDBLACKS practice or media availability today.
— REDBLACKS Communications (@REDBLACKScomms) May 15, 2022
CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie posted a letter to fans on the league’s website, outlining the CFL’s offer to the CFLPA, saying the league offered, among other things, partially-guaranteed contracts for the first time in its history and two increases to the league’s minimum salary, bumping it up to $70,000 in 2023 and $75,000 in 2024.
“This is a win-win offer,” Ambrosie wrote. “It creates a stronger partnership, so we can work together to further improve our game and build our business. And it comes at a critical time. Our league, our clubs, and especially our players have been through so much during the pandemic. We turned the corner in 2021, working together to get back on the field. Now we have an opportunity to accelerate towards a brighter future.”
TSN’s Farhan Lalji reports that no more formal bargaining sessions are scheduled, but the two sides are “not far apart”, according to a source. Lalji says the union’s three main issues include improved health and safety for padded practices, better revenue sharing, and the term of the deal if revenue sharing isn't addressed. The CFL is offering a seven-year term.
The 3 sticking points for @CFLPA:
- @CFL wants 12 padded practices. PA wants improved health & safety package if they’re to agree
- Revenue sharing needs to include all revenue. Not selected buckets. Statements need to be audited.
- Term of deal (if rev share doesn’t get fixed) https://t.co/pGXw46K7XQ
The salary cap & ratio moves are not the main issues. No more formal bargainingsessions are scheduled. But I would expect informal discussions to continue daily.
“We’re not that far apart” - source.@CFLonTSN@TSN_Sports
The last time CFL players went on strike in 1974, the issue was resolved before the season began.
Fans disappointed
Ottawa Redblacks fan Jackie Roy was looking forward to this day. The season ticket holder was hoping to grab a sneak peek at the players on opening day of training camp. Instead, all she saw was an empty field at Lansdowne Park.
“We’ve been waiting months for the football season to start,” Roy said.
"It’s disappointing. I was coming today just to watch practice and I was wanting to see some action on the field.”
Roy says the strike action will dampen some excitement for the new season.
"Fans are excited, especially this year. We have a new GM, a lot of new players, a new quarterback; so it’s an exciting time and we’d love to see the players, everybody back on the field. I’m hoping the CFL can do right by the players. They give their heart and soul."
--With files from The Canadian Press and TSN’s Farhan Lalji.
Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said Monday afternoon that police have identified 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III as a person of interest and cautioned he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall was in contact with a key organizer of the Freedom Convoy anti-mandate protest, providing strategic advice before and after the Ottawa occupation began, according to court records obtained by CTV News.
A 41-year-old man will be charged with kidnapping and rape after an Edmonton girl who was missing for more than a week was found, Oregon City Police said.
COVID-19 cases are rising again in Canada, with the two fast-spreading Omicron sub-variants known as BA.4 and BA.5 to blame. CTVNews.ca has a guide to what you need to know about the new variants.
The federal government says it has signed a $20-billion final settlement agreement to compensate First Nations children and families harmed by chronic underfunding of child welfare.
More witnesses are coming forward with new details on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's devastating testimony last week against former U.S. President Donald Trump, says a member of a U.S. House committee investigating the insurrection.
The CAT ferry, which sails between Yarmouth, N.S., and Bar Harbour, Maine, has sold more than 20,000 tickets so far this year, that’s up from the 15,100 tickets sold as of June 7.
Over 90,000 Prince Edward Island residents will see a top-up in their bank accounts to help alleviate the pressure of record inflation rates affecting the cost of living in the province.
As thieves continue to steal catalytic converters by cutting them off cars, it doesn’t really matter how old your vehicle is or what kind of shape it's in.
Until now, Quebec has required patients to have ultrasounds before getting the pills that induce a medical abortion. In the rest of Canada, that measure was abandoned in 2019.
Hanna Kovalenko was leading a comfortable lifestyle with her husband and two little girls in Mariupol, Ukraine, when all of a sudden her hometown became the epicentre of a full-scale war.
A former employee at the Rexall Pharmacy on Bancroft Drive in Sudbury pleaded guilty Monday to writing fake fentanyl prescriptions worth more than $1.5 million.
One person has died and four others — including three children — have been taken to hospital following a head on collision in the Township of Blandford-Blenheim, Ont. Monday afternoon.
Rick Bowness doesn't mind being the second choice. The new Winnipeg Jets head coach took part in his first press conference Monday, a little more than a week after first target Barry Trotz declined the team's offer because the veteran wanted to spend more time with his family.
Cannabis shops cropped up quickly across Waterloo region, but it seems some are now closing shop shortly after they arrived. At least one expert says the shift could point to signs of saturation as the heavily competitive fight for cannabis sales takes its toll.
A Puslinch, Ont. woman says her driveway will need to be repaved less than month after she came home to find strangers working on it without her prior consent.
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall was in contact with a key organizer of the Freedom Convoy anti-mandate protest, providing strategic advice before and after the Ottawa occupation began, according to court records obtained by CTV News.
A 41-year-old man will be charged with kidnapping and rape after an Edmonton girl who was missing for more than a week was found, Oregon City Police said.
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall was in contact with a key organizer of the Freedom Convoy anti-mandate protest, providing strategic advice before and after the Ottawa occupation began, according to court records obtained by CTV News.
