City set to close 35 outdoor Toronto rinks this weekend

Mayor John Tory will try again to keep open rinks which are scheduled to close this Sunday despite Toronto’s deep freeze.

Thestar.com
Feb. 20, 2015
By David Rider


With 35 outdoor ice rinks across Toronto scheduled to close Sunday for the season despite an ongoing deep freeze, Mayor John Tory is reaching out to the private sector for help to keep them open.

“Winter skating is as Canadian as maple syrup,” Tory’s spokesperson, Amanda Galbraith, said Thursday after the Star asked if the mayor had any response to the budget-driven, planned shutdowns.

“The mayor believes we should keep our outdoor rinks open so Toronto residents can enjoy this time-honoured tradition. The mayor will be reaching out to the private sector to see if we can get additional support to keep these rinks open through this cold snap.”

Galbraith noted that this year, weather permitting, another 17 outdoor rinks are scheduled to remain open until the end of March break. Last year, amid similar cold weather, there was a public uproar that all rinks were to close before the break - until two corporations saved the day.

This year Tory will have to look beyond those white knights. Canadian Tire and Scotiabank both said Thursday they have no plans to repeat the generosity that saw them donate $270,000 to keep 11 rinks open through most of last March.

Meanwhile, notices of the Sunday closings at 35 rinks across the city = weather and crowds be damned - are catching skaters off guard.

Etobicoke grandfather Gary Sullivan was shocked that, come Monday, the crowds of kids at Wedgewood Park could find a locked gate.

“You see how much money goes for Pan Am (Games) and whatnot, and it makes no sense to me, or anybody I talk to, not to keep all the rinks open,” said Sullivan, who takes his 5-year-old grandson, Griffin, to the chilly neighbourhood hot spot near Martin Grove and Burnhamthorpe Rds.

“I personally wouldn’t care if my taxes went up a little bit to pay to keep the rinks open, especially when it’s so cold. Hundreds of kids use that rink, a lot of them walk there after school, and if they’re not doing that they’re watching TV or playing in the mall.”

The mercury is forecast to hit only -13 C on Friday, struggle up to -2 C on Sunday and then drop like a cold stone next week.

In 2014 budget deliberations, city council did recognize that anger, while keeping the residential property tax hike below inflation. The roughly $6-million budget for outdoor rinks was adjusted so that some could open on Nov. 22, a week early, while ensuring some ice would remain operational over March break.

City parks director Richard Ubbens told the Star that “there are staffing costs, equipment costs - we work within our funding envelope, otherwise taxes would be all over the place.

“I understand that there is some interest in a long season ... Toronto has a lot of rinks, there’s a lot of interest, but they do cost a lot of money. The overall season is defined by city council.”

He noted that opening and closing dates for all rinks have been posted on the city website since November. The calls for a longer skating season, he noted, have only been loud these past two unseasonably cold winters.

At least one councillor, Paul Ainslie (Ward 43, Scarborough East), says the council should try to permanently fix the problem.

“It kind of slips through the cracks every year,” Ainslie said. “Weather permitting, the rinks should stay open. We need to look at the parks budget.”