Tim Hortons replaces GFL as city rink sponsor
The chain has served up $100,000 to help keep a dozen Toronto outdoor rinks open longer, replacing a waste collection firm forced to bow out over a potential conflict of interest.

TheStar.com
Feb. 24, 2015
David Rider

Tim Hortons has served up $100,000 to help keep a dozen City of Toronto outdoor rinks open until after March break, replacing a waste collection firm forced to bow out over a potential conflict of interest.

But within minutes of Mayor John Tory’s Tuesday announcement, questions were being asked about the donation’s propriety, because the president of Tim Hortons is registered to lobby city staff on issues including Toronto’s blue bin program and policies on restaurant drive-throughs.

In a virtual do-over of the Friday rinkside announcement where Tory heaped praise on waste collection firm Green For Life, the mayor Tuesday announced that GFL was out, but iconic doughnut chain Tim Hortons had stepped forward to join Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment as a donor.

GFL and the city were convinced the company, which has the city contract to collect residential curbside waste and recycling west of Yonge St., was not involved in new business with the city that precludes a donation, Tory said

But “over the weekend,” GFL realized it is part of an ongoing tender and, Tory said, on Monday voluntarily withdrew the donation offer. He described the problem as a “hiccup” on the way to keeping rinks open for kids.

In a statement, Dovigi said GFL consulted city staff about the rules around sponsorships and withdrew the offer “so as not to affect our current procurement processes.”

Tory revealed the change on a cold Trinity Bellwoods Park rink surrounded by Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, former Leafs great Wendel Clark, a Tim Hortons franchisee and kids playing hockey.

Last Thursday, the Star contacted Tory’s office asking for comment about the fact that 35 rinks were set for scheduled seasonal closing Sunday, even though Toronto remains in a deep freeze and the rinks are busy.

The next day the mayor said GFL and MLSE would each kick in $100,000 to keep open 12 rinks, originally slated to close Sunday, until March 22. A further 17 rinks were already scheduled to stay open until the end of spring break.

MLSE owns the Leafs, the Toronto Marlies and the Toronto Raptors. MLSE operates BMO Field and Ricoh Coliseum on behalf of the city and is a tenant of the city’s Mastercard Centre.

The hastily formed plans to keep some rinks open had the city’s sponsorship office scrambling to vet the donors for any potential conflicts of interest or other problems, a process that normally takes much longer than a day.

Soon after Tory’s introduction of Tim Hortons as a rink saviour, however, people were pointing out that company’s president, David Clanachan, has active registrations to lobby city officials on “city policies related to economic growth, regulatory issues, blue box program; drive-through policy.”

City Councillor Gord Perks said after the Star revealed the GFL pullout that Tory had blundered by getting involved before the civil service had screened potential donors.

“An announcement was made prior to all of the steps being followed, and that’s wrong,” Perks said, arguing there may also be issues with the city accepting money from MLSE. “The evidence seems to be that the process wasn’t followed.”

He said that even if no wrongdoing occurred according to city rules, it’s important to also prevent the perception of wrongdoing to “maintain trust in government.”

Tory flatly rejected that, saying potential sponsors came forward voluntarily and dealt with the city sponsorship office, not the mayor’s office.

Perks said the issue of maintaining ice rinks will be raised at Wednesday’s parks and environment committee meeting, where he said it may be appropriate to discuss the sponsorships. The committee is also expected to discuss Sarah Doucette’s request for a staff report on letting people legally skate on Grenadier Pond.

Meanwhile, Councillor Paula Fletcher is furious that 25 other rinks closed Sunday. She says the parks and environment committee last March directed the parks department to consider building into the budget a “cold weather contingency fund,” but city staff ignored the request.

Downtown wards, which mostly have outdoor rinks, as opposed to suburban arenas that remain open, suffer the most from the closures.

“We’ve got the short end of the hockey stick one more time,” said Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth).

Fletcher said she is fighting, along with three other east-end councillors, to get Monarch Park rink, near Danforth and Coxwell Aves., reopened because residents of all four of their wards use it and are protesting the shutdown.

Tory, however, poured cold water on the idea. City staff, not politicians, have decided which rinks will stay open and there are no plans to add any rinks to that list, he said.