The Ottawa Senators’ plans for an NHL game on Parliament Hill have been shut down by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
A spokesperson for Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly stated Friday afternoon that the game would be too difficult to coordinate due to concerns about security, public access and the continuation of parliamentary business.
“In the highly complex environment regarding events on Parliament Hill, including the need for the uninterrupted operations of parliamentary business, public access, and security, a full-stadium NHL game was deemed not feasible and is no longer one of the options being considered,” Pierre-Olivier Herbert, Joly’s press secretary, said in a statement widely distributed to media on Friday.
The rules governing activity on Parliament Hill prohibit organized sporting events, as well as commercial advertising, alcohol sales and charging admission fees.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Ottawa Senators president Cyril Leeder had previously expressed interest in Parliament Hill as a venue for a game between the Sens and the Montreal Canadiens to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first NHL game, played between the two rivals on Dec. 19, 1917.
The game was to be part of a series of Ottawa 2017 celebrations, including Red Bull Crashed Ice and the 105th Grey Cup.
Leeder said in October that the organization was not looking into holding the game anywhere but on Parliament Hill.
The Senators said in a statement that they are disappointed with the outcome.
“To host a game on Parliament Hill would have been iconic and historic and, in our view, the best way to cap off the year-long celebrations in 2017 to honour both the League’s Centennial and Canada’s 150,” the team stated.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said that he is thankful for the federal government’s “thoughtful and diligent consideration” of the issue, and will continue trying to secure a venue for the game over the next few months.
Watson mentioned the game could be played at TD Place instead, shifting the focus of Ottawa’s lobbying from Parliament Hill to the recently redeveloped Lansdowne Park.