The Ottawa Senators wanted to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by playing an outdoor game on Parliament Hill.
Today, however, their hopes were dashed by the federal government.
As reported by the Ottawa Citizen’s Don Butler, the proposed game “was not deemed feasible and is no longer one of the options being considered” as part of the year-long celebrations, said an aide to Mélanie Joly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Joly’s department would have been responsible for staging the game, which the Sens had hoped to play in December of 2017.
From CBC.ca:
One of the major problems surrounding the hockey on the Hill proposal is the amount of time it would take to set up a temporary arena for 30,000 spectators. Julian wouldn’t say how long it is expected to take, but other sources have told the CBC it could be as long as 16 to 18 weeks.
That means the parliamentary greensward would be under construction for most of the fall of 2017, when tourists are expected to be visiting the capital during the sesquicentennial.
The Sens said in September that Parliament Hill was the only location that was being considered for an outdoor game.