Thanks to councillor Rick Downes, the City of Kingston, Ont., has voted “not to enter into any public private partnership that would prevent or in any way restrict the City of Kingston from constructing new publicly owned and operated arenas…as the need for more indoor ice surfaces arises.”
Kingston plans to build a $25.5 million indoor ice complex on municipal industrial land. Downes said he introduced the motion to ensure the city does not enter into any P3 that might allow a private company to include non-competition clauses preventing the city from building future rinks on its own.
To determine which councillors support privatization, Downes also asked that the vote be formally recorded. The final tally was 9-4 in favour of the motion.
(With files from The Kingston Whig-Standard)