Privateers Looking To Score A Deal With Region Of Queens

COVID-19 may have cancelled the season, but hockey was the hot topic at Region of Queens council.

Representatives for the Liverpool Privateers appeared before council looking to change how they are supported by the region.

Bruce Inglis heads up the Liverpool Junior Hockey Association, the non-profit group operating the Privateers along with owner Jim Bottomley.

Inglis says in 2018, the team entered into a five-year agreement with Region of Queens council which provided up to $6,000 to help cover the costs of transporting players to Liverpool from a number of the universities and community college campuses around the province.

The contract also shared 50% of the revenue from ads behind the penalty box with the team.

Inglis says a year later, the region changed the deal.

“In 2019 they’d identified some inconsistencies with how contracts are allowed to be done. So they removed those things, which is a big issue. But suggested that we could use their Grants to Organizations program.”

Mayor David Dagley says after the deal was reached, the municipality learned some of the terms may run counter to rules set out by the Municipal Government Act.

The MGA restricts how municipalities can use taxpayer money to support non-profit and for-profit groups.

In March of 2019, the team received a registered letter from Region of Queens indicating they would no longer provide the transportation allowance and advertising revenue sharing.

Dagley says Queens wants to support the Privateers but they have to do so within the bounds of the law.

“It will be up to our municipal staff to determine what is non-profit, and what is for-profit in the ask, or any related activities with the team, and see how we can navigate between the two.”

Inglis says by unilaterally changing the contract, the municipality has fundamentally changed the business model of the team.

He wants the region to find a way to live up to the promises they agreed to for five years, two years ago.

And says if the region made an error when signing the agreement, it should be up for them to make it right, not the team.

“We want that certainty, so that we know that it remains, for a number of years, a viable place for Jim to have his hockey team.”

Inglis says the dedicated work of their volunteers has helped to root the team in the community.

The Privateers pull 400- 700 people to Queens Place Emera Centre each night during the regular season, a number which jumps to over 900 during the playoffs.

Inglis says participation in the toonie draws, which the team shares with the curling club, has allowed the Privateers to replace both their home and away jerseys over the last couple of years.

Inglis says that kind of fan support is the envy of the league.

“The fans didn’t come to the rink on their own. They were brought there by a lot of hard work from volunteers.”

Inglis says if the region can’t provide direct funding he’d be open to finding alternative ways to support the team,

“I think they could give the ice for free to meet the same financial obligations and I don’t believe that there are not junior hockey teams all over the country that are sharing in the revenue of advertising or selling the advertising in arenas.”

That’s precisely the model being used by the South Shore Lumberjacks at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater.

According to the town’s mayor David Mitchell, the facility allows the team to sell advertising on the boards and ice-surface in exchange for a cut of ticket sales.

Under the recently signed five-year deal, the LCLC also provides the Lumberjacks a reduced price on ice-time.

Queens mayor David Dagley says the Privateers are part of the fabric of Liverpool and council is willing to find a way to support the team.

He says staff are now waiting for the Privateers to turn over the financials for review.

Once they’ve gone over the team’s books, Dagley says municipal staff will have a better idea how the region can work within the rules of the municipal government act to help them out.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson