Ottawa Senators will have one eye on NCC Thursday with LeBreton Flats on agenda
"Don't hold your breath waiting for big news."
Bruce Garrioch, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Apr 06, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 4 minute read
The Ottawa Senators will have one eye on their computer screens at the Canadian Tire Centre Thursday morning.
They’ll be waiting to find out what the National Capital Commission’s board of directors will say when a public meeting is held, with an update on the LeBreton Flats project on the agenda.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for big news.
The item is only pegged for 30 minutes at 11 a.m. Officials with the NCC have refused to say how many groups had expressed interest by the Feb. 28 deadline, but we can tell you that, after 35 days of calling around Ottawa to find out the number, they’re doing a good job keeping it under wraps.
While the Senators can’t confirm anything publicly for fear of expulsion, it’s believed owner Eugene Melnyk, who passed away March 28, signed off on entering a bid to build a major events centre at the site, which is located about 10 minutes west of downtown.
After Melnyk’s partnership with Trinity’s John Ruddy fell apart and ended up with the two parties suing each other, the Senators won’t study that partnership again.
Maybe this time Melnyk lined himself with a more powerful partner that’s used to making these kinds of deals. If the Senators hadn’t at least made “an expression of interest” at the deadline, then the door would have closed completely.
We believe Melnyk and his group of backers dipped their toes into the water to see what the NCC’s thought process is on this. If they didn’t, then the door would be slammed shut and Melnyk noted to Postmedia in December he was “always interested” in an opportunity at LeBreton.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly have backed a downtown arena for Ottawa for several years so it’d be no surprise if they threw some weight behind a bid as well.
NCC officials will want to know what will happen now after Melnyk lost his battle with an undisclosed illness last week. It will be business as usual for the Senators with CFO Erin Crowe, president of business operations Anthony LeBlanc and general manager Pierre Dorion running the club.
The trio will report to Melnyk’s three-person board of Sheldon Plener, a partner in the business law group at Cassels, longtime business associate Lawrence Zeifman and John Miszuk, the club’s chief administrative officer. They will direct the business of the organization in the coming months.
Ultimately, Melnyk’s daughters, Anna and Olivia, will have a decision to make on what they want to do with the team, but that doesn’t have to happen right now and nor should it. They need time to grieve the loss of their father and it will take a lot of time to sort out his estate, which includes several business holdings.
There shouldn’t be any concern from the NCC about the future of the Senators because Melnyk had set this up so that if his two children want to keep the team then the ability is there for them to do so.
The NCC’s Bill Leonard is scheduled to update the board on where the bidding process is at. It sure doesn’t sound like the groups involved will be named, but anything is possible where the NCC is concerned.
Last week, the NCC’s Valerie Dufour, a senior communications strategist, reached out to say the meeting Thursday will be lunch-bag letdown if you’re expecting some big news release.
The day after Melnyk’s death, I typed this sentence: “The NCC will reveal next month which groups put in a bid to build at LeBreton Flats and it would make sense if Melnyk expressed interest.”
Dufour sent an email March 29 titled “correction” with instructions to take that paragraph out and the following statement was attached. To be honest, I had so much going on that day I didn’t really read the exchange, but took a second look Wednesday morning.
“We are not ready for an announcement,” Dufour wrote. “The NCC is currently evaluating the proposals submitted to the NCC as part of its REI. As a confidential process, we cannot share the details of any of the submissions.
“Following the evaluation stage, we intend to enter into negotiations with the successful proponent(s) and will continue to keep the public apprised, including the details of the preferred submission(s) at the appropriate time.”
I received a similar note from another person at the NCC Wednesday throwing cold water on any sort of major announcement.
“The board will receive progress updates on various ongoing initiatives at LeBreton Flats, including on the process to attract major attractions at the Flats,” the note said. “But we will not be presenting proposals nor share details on proponents at this time.”
There’s been a bit of media-feed frenzy because, in typical Ottawa fashion, everybody is whispering without knowing the actual truth. Given the fact nothing happens fast in government circles, it could take a while.
Plus, as an old journalism friend noted to me Wednesday, it’s budget day in Ottawa and the government doesn’t want anything to distract from those numbers.
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Twitter: @sungarrioch
https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/...c-thursday-with-lebreton-flats-on-agenda
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