Senators owner Melnyk working on challenge to Ontario attendance limits
Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is working on a pitch to the Ontario government to allow the team to welcome full-capacity crowds at the Canadian Tire Centre, the team’s president of business operations said Thursday.
Anthony LeBlanc says the restrictions that would see the Senators play home games in empty arenas are “nonsensical” and “draconian."
LeBlanc said Melnyk is putting together documentation to present to Premier Doug Ford to argue the organization’s case.
“He’s employing scientists that he’s worked with over the last several decades so he can put together an argument of why these current restrictions that are in place for facilities like Canadian Tire Centre make absolutely no sense from a scientific point of view,” LeBlanc told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll.
“Eugene’s approaching this purely through science,” LeBlanc added. “I know he’s had direct conversations with the premier.”
Under Ontario’s current rules, put in place to limit the spread of the Omicron variant, sports arenas are limited to 500 people or fewer until Feb. 21. The Senators have already played two home games with no fans this month, and have 10 more scheduled before that date.
LeBlanc said he believes the team should be allowed to fully reopen the CTC to fans, given they are requiring proof of vaccination and have upgraded to “state-of-the-art” air flow.
“I’ll take 50 per cent...but I don’t even know why we’d be at 50. We should be at 100 per cent,” he said.
And he questioned why facilities such as big box stores can welcome people up to half capacity while arenas are far more limited.
“We’re not sitting here looking for any form of special treatment,” LeBlanc said. “We’re just asking people to look at this rationally and say it just doesn’t make sense.”
However, one infectious disease expert said big box stores are a different proposition than live sporting events,
“At a big box store there is continual movement in a very large air space,” said Colin Furness, infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. “You’re there for a fairly short time. You’re not pressed up close against other people.”
Furness said there is a higher risk of COVID-19 transmission at sporting events because many people aren’t wearing their masks the entire time.
“I don’t even think stadiums should have 500 people in them right now. Not when people can’t get cancer surgery,” he said. “I just think we need to organize our priorities here. And the billionaire owners of teams are going to take a hit, yes that’s true. But I’m far more concerned with small businesses and being able to keep them open.”
LeBlanc said he estimates the restrictions will lead to a $100 million loss in revenue for Ontario’s sports teams, including the Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, and OHL and AHL teams.
For a typical home-game, the Senators employ about 1,000 people, he said.
“Those part-time workers need that part-time job,” he said.
Jennifer O'Connell, a Senators guest services employee, says the two months without a paycheque comes at what is already the hardest time of the year.
"A lot of us have this as our main job, or we’re retired," she said. "It’s that extra income, and it’s all gone.
"There's people that need the money. Epsecially with the way everything is rising in prices; gas, groceries, everything. It's difficult, that's for sure."
Under the province’s reopening plan, sports venues can return to 50 per cent capacity on Feb. 21 and full capacity on March 14.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
B.C. man fighting for refund after finding someone living at Whistler vacation rental
Edwin Mostered spent thousands of dollars booking a vacation home in Whistler, B.C., for a group skiing trip earlier this year – or so he thought.
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.