City arenas will feel it the most
Arenas: If you are a hockey player, figure skater or just a recreational skater, brace yourself — arenas are where the labour action will have the biggest impact on the city.
Just what the impact will be at the city’s 48 arenas and 51 outdoor ice rinks is unclear. By far the largest user is the 43,000-member Greater Toronto Hockey League which uses 30 city rinks. Its officials are watching talks closely. Here’s what we know. Some arenas are managed by their own community boards and with staff that are not involved in talks. It is expected these arenas will stay open but just what services will be offered is not known. The arenas are: George Bell, Larry Grossman Forest Hill Memorial, Mccormick Playground, Moss Park, North Toronto Memorial, Ted Reeve, William H. Bolton, Lakeshore Lions and Weston Lions.
The city’s other arenas will likely be run by managers with the Ford administration indicating they want to keep all arenas open.
The 51 outdoor rinks have normal shutdown dates of Feb. 26 and March 11 and it’s not clear if those dates will change or if the rinks will just close immediately. Pools: The city runs about 70 indoor swimming pools, including some in schools with Local 416 workers looking after pool maintenance.
Labour action will mean that many of those pools will shut down. In 2009, pools were closed. Snow clearing: The short-term weather forecast indicates no snow which means no immediate impact here. Also about two-thirds of the city’s snow clearing is contracted out. The remaining third is handled by municipal workers.
This will likely mean that if there is a winter storm the priority will be busy arterial roads.
That in turn means it could be several days or weeks for side streets and sidewalks to be cleared.
own community boards whose staff weren’t part of the talks.
They are: George Bell; Larry Grossman Forest Hill Memorial; Mccormick Playground; Moss Park; North Toronto Memorial; Ted Reeve; William H. Bolton; Lakeshore Lions and Weston Lions.
Councillor Karen Stintz (Ward 16, Eglinton-lawrence), who’s on the boards at Forest Hill and North Toronto, said those facilities will operate normally.
Councillors on boards of other community arenas say they think operations will continue, while some aren’t sure.
Councillor Ana Bailao, whose ward includes Mccormick Playground arena plus outdoor ice, said her residents are offering to volunteer to shovel off the ice surfaces if need be.
“I’ve contacted the city manager’s office and let them know our communities are willing to step up,” said Bailao (Ward 18, Davenport).
While Moss Park has its own board, Councillor Kristyn Wong-tam said it’s unclear to her what would happen to the heavily used downtown facility. Any disruption “would be very upsetting to many people,” said Wong-tam (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-rosedale).
“Because there’s such a dearth of ice time, we actually have people that travel from Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough that use the rink at Moss Park.” Wong-tam added Moss Park is the only arena in her ward, which has a population of about 100,000.
The 51 outdoor rinks have normal shutdown dates of Feb. 26 and March 11, but union sources say they hear the city plans to pull the plug as early as this weekend.
However, the company that services ice-making equipment for the city says it hasn’t been told to turn off the compressors early.
“Shutting down a refrigeration system is not like turning off a light switch,” said David Sinclair, of Cimco Refrigeration. “There’s a prescribed method to do it.”
Local 416 has said publicly it won’t target the arenas, and would step in only if inexperienced people were sent to work on the equipment, posing a safety risk.
Officially, the city says talks continue and it is giving no hint of when it will tell the public what to expect if an impasse occurs.
“City services are continuing,” said spokesperson Jackie Desouza. “We will announce details of our contingency plan as necessary in the event of a labour disruption.”