It's Miller Time
By: Steve Galea
The Toronto Sportsmen's Show's (TSS) 63-year run at Exhibition Place is now history, thanks to the city council's anti-gun policies.
"They pushed us over the edge," said Ray Sriubiskis, vice-president of Canadian National Sportsmen's Shows. "The prohibition of gun sales is one thing, but they were also dictating that we could not promote hunting. They were trying to tell us how to run our show." The show, which drew 122,000 people during the March break, will relocate to the provincially owned Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) in downtown Toronto for 2010. Sriubiskis says he received assurance from the province that the promotion of hunting and firearms will not be an issue.
"They've accepted us with open arms." He says the TSS began investigating other locations last October in reaction to Mayor David Miller's targeting of legal firearms. The final straw, he says, came on March 19 when Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone told the media this would be the last year for the display or handling of firearms at the show.
"We had no idea where this came from," said Sriubiskis. The MTCC was chosen, says Sriubiskis, because typically shows that move there experience doubledigit growth in attendance due to better public-transit access, improved parking, proximity to more than 12,000 hotel rooms, and space better suited to the needs of vendors, clubs, and associations that participate.
"We see this as a huge opportunity for growth and are excited," he said.
Mayor Miller is anything but excited. "The decision by the sportsman show to relocate to the convention centre is disappointing, given that firearms displays represent less than 10% of the floor area at the Direct Energy Centre," he said.
While the City of Toronto will realize an immediate loss of $750,000 in lease revenue, Sriubiskis says the cost could be much greater. "One source suggests the TSS is worth as much as $14.5 million to the city's coffers," he said.
Miller's policies have affected smaller operations, too. Peter Edwards, executive director of the venerable Toronto Sportsmen's Association, says his group's lease at Pratt House in the Hogg's Hollow area of Toronto will not be renewed after June 30, despite residing more than 40 years in cityowned buildings. "We received a letter saying that we didn't fit the city's criteria because of firearms promotion," said Edwards.
Among other activities, the association runs provincially sanctioned hunter-safety courses, as well as the federal firearms course. "We have no operable firearms on the premises," said Edwards.
Photo courtesy Canadian National Sportsmen's Shows (CNSS)
