Hamilton Combat Sports Ban
Earlier this week I met with someone who asked me for information. He told me a friend of his who was a professional boxing promoter wanted to host an event at the Mountain Arena and that his request was denied by the City. Apparently there is a Hamilton Combat Sports Ban at City owned facilities. My initial reaction was one of confusion. First Ontario Centre (Copps) had already hosted MMA events in Hamilton so that didn’t make any sense. During my time working for Terry Whitehead at City Hall this issue had not come up, so I admitted I was at a bit of a loss. Seeing as how I wasn’t presently working at City Hall I promised to look into it after the election and find out when and how this ban came into being
A Policy Not Approved By Council
Fast forward to today. Andrew Dreschel wrote a column this morning entitled: No Mixed Martial Arts or Boxing Please, we’re Hamilton. His column detailed a problem that a promoter was having in booking the Mountain Arena. Is it possible that Council never approved such a policy? Is Staff simply making this one up? According to the article this morning: It appears so.
Is it possible that Council never approved such a policy?
I will admit that I am not a fan of Mixed Martial Arts. I’ve never really enjoyed Boxing. Although I will admit to enjoying the charity bout between Senator Patrick Brazeau and our now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. My personal preference aside, I don’t have any problems with people attending legally sanctioned events anywhere. So the question is, who decided the City was going to ban the rental of our public arenas to a legally sanctioned professional sports organization without first checking with Council?
Who decided the City was going to ban the rental of our public arenas to a legally sanctioned professional sports organization?
Elected Council
Many years ago there was a move to eliminate City Council’s entirely. The idea was that most people don’t care about their Municipal Council, and that 
Cities would be better run with a City Manager doing everything and reporting back to the province. This idea was obviously unpopular in many circles and was ultimately dropped. The people of Hamilton come together to elect a Council so that they will have a say in how their City is run. They elect a representative who goes to City Hall and advocates on their behalf on issues that may be unique to their neighbourhoods. They also elect a representative that represents them on City-wide issues: policing, water, transit, roads, recreation, etc.
This question should be put to Council.
They expect their Councillor to act in the best interests of the City, and the Ward that elected them. Which is why, if the question of what type of event to ban at a publicly owned arena were to come up, this question should be put to Council. Staff can issue a report and make recommendations, and the Council can they decide to vote on it right away, or defer the matter and consult with their community. On this issue, that appears not to have happened.
Well Meaning But Misguided
As I stated earlier, I have no idea who put forth the ‘ban’ on combat sports at City owned facilities. I can only guess that the decision was made by a well meaning member of city staff who was simply trying to do the right thing. I don’t for a minute think that anyone was engaged in a conspiracy to deny this organization a rental permit, but rather well meaning people got together in a room and decided it was probably best not to go that way.
That decision should have been left to the elected Council to decide.
My problem however is this: That decision should have been left to the elected Council to decide. When we the public want to comment or express our disappointment with Council direction, we can call our Councillors, or the Mayor and do so. But when a decision is made behind closed doors by well meaning, but ultimately misguided staff… then I have a problem.
Image Credits
(1) Wikimedia – https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/World_Series_Boxing_Ring.JPG
(2) Wikimedia – https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Hamilton_City_Hall.JPG
