Letters to the Editor: City must ensure arena board follows its mandate, reader writes
Re: ‘Ted Reeve Arena board votes to uphold decision to keep ice on main rink all year’, Beach Metro Community News, Jan. 20.
Lacrosse, and other sports, are going to find it increasingly hard to survive if the city doesn’t have proper oversight of its boards.
As strain on government and taxpayers continues with competing priorities and scarce dollars, sport and recreation will continue to be put on the back burner or at the very least, slide down the list of priorities.
The public needs to know that the scarce resources that are available are being accessed and distributed fairly for everyone.
A recent decision by the Ted Reeve Community Arena Board of Management to keep ice in the arena all year long, resulting in the removal of the Toronto Beaches Lacrosse Club from their home of over three decades has made it glaringly obvious that there are serious holes in the oversight and accountability given to public appointees and boards who are to act on behalf of the public’s interest. And it opens the door to put the interest of private, for-profit companies over the interests of the public and, most often, its non-profit organizations.
Elected officials and appointed members of public boards are held to a higher standard of fiduciary duty because of the trust they have been given by the people. I would suggest that appointed board members even more so because with an election there is a clear path to removing someone from office. Recourse for appointed board members is not so clear.
A board’s fiduciary duty includes duty of loyalty to placing public interest above all else; acting in good faith; accountability for ensuring transparency and due process; responsibly managing funds; mitigating conflict of interest; and upholding a clear, open and meaningful process for public input.
Toronto Council has a duty to ensure its appointed, approved board members of city-owned facilities and organizations are acting under the mandates they have been given. The Relationship Framework Agreement between the City of Toronto and Arena Boards requires “to allocate use of the arena and other recreational facilities in a fair and equitable manner among neighbourhood citizens and organizations and arena user groups, with particular consideration given to addressing the needs of the local community”.
The Ted Reeve Arena board decision to remove lacrosse, in my view, undermines the duties they are expected to uphold as appointed members of a public board. Transparency, regard for due process, and effective consultation with the local community are paramount.
Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford provided the board an opportunity to rescind the original decision and instead seek public opinion first, but this motion was also defeated.
As sports continue to grow in this country, including lacrosse — soccer, basketball, and pickleball to name a few, these groups will compete for their share of indoor and outdoor spaces now and in the future. So, we better be sure our public institutions not only support non-profit organizations, but also ensure local communities are being treated fairly, consulted and heard.
To be clear, this issue is not about hockey versus lacrosse. Both organizations represent about 1,000 local kids. It’s an issue of governance, oversight and ensuring public interest and input in decision-making.
Why is this so important? Because it’s precedent setting.
If the city that oversees a board’s existence and local politicians representing their constituents don’t provide real democratic oversight at the local level, the big picture is grim.
Lacrosse, our national summer sport, will be squeezed out. And other sports organizations will find themselves in the same boat.
Liz McGregor
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