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As described in the previous section, the Central Canada Exhibition Association landed a lease in the 1940s that allowed it full control of the activities on Lansdowne Park. |
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In 1967, another 10-year lease was signed, and the city raised the CCEA's annual $25,000 payment to $35,000, plus took a percentage of fair profits. This year, however, the agreement was not to everyone's liking. Gwen Bower-Binns, an Ottawa resident, circulated a petition protesting the lease agreement, saying that the CCEA should pay more for the property. The lease agreement was not to the liking of a well-known politician, either. Alderman Charlotte Whitton, who took office as the first female mayor in Ottawa in 1956, instigated legal action against the city in early 1967 and lost. She argued to the Supreme Court of Ontario that the CCEA's Act of Incorporation restricted the Association's actions to only running exhibitions and that the city did not have the right to write off the CCEA's taxes. By taking the city to court, Whitton had jeopardized her seat on Council, as it was illegal under the Ontario Municipal Act for a member of Council to take legal action against the City. The penalty wasn't automatic, however; someone had to initiate the proceedings. Sam McLean, a private citizen, decided to do just that and took Whitton to court. The judge, however, ruled against him, saying that Whitton, too, had acted as a private citizen, not as a member of Council. McLean's intention to appeal the ruling was reported in the Ottawa Journal in September of 1967. After this brouhaha, and perhaps because of it, council decided to shorten the CCEA's lease to five years instead of the original 10. At this time, Whitton was no longer a member of council, but it is unclear if McLean's appeal was successful. On December 28, 1967, the Ottawa papers reported that Whitton had submitted a request to the Ontario Municiple Board for an Ottawa-wide referendum to decide whether the city should absorb the CCEA's taxes; however, this request was turned down and the case was laid to rest. Because the Lord's Day Act was struck down in 1969, allowing the exhibition to start opening on Sundays, Whitton, once again an alderman on City Council, said that the CCEA should pay the City more rent because they would be taking in more revenue. the Ottawa Journal quoted Alderman Claude Bennett as saying in response to this request: "It seems the CCEA is continually harassed by some members of council to spread its small profits even thinner." Council later vetoed the suggestion that the CCEA pay a higher rent.  In 1973, after much dispute, the City took back year-round control of the grounds, and the CCEA was once again a mere resident in its home. Instead of having control over what groups used the grounds during the year, the Association now only had authority over Lansdowne Park during Exhibition time. The city absorbed the Association's financial reserves and gave them an annual fund of $300,000 maximum. All profits from Exhibition week were to go to the city. On May 1, 1973, The Ottawa Citizen reported the termination of the CCEA's year-round control of Lansdowne Park, concluding that, "The change seems likely to have three effects: Ottawa residents will get more use out of the $15 million worth of Lansdowne buildings; it will cost more to run the place; and the grounds will become more a park and less a parking lot."  Today, the city still has year-round control of Lansdowne Park, and the CCEA's lease for use of the grounds during the exhibition expires in 2001. Cheryl McBain, the current Acting General Manager of the exhibition, says about the lease: "Perhaps [the lease is] a little inhibiting on people who might want to do something at Lansdowne Park. But we do have it till 2001, and then another five-year option that we are currently looking at exercising." |
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[The Politics of the CCEA]
[The Early Years of the Lease] [The Lease Fiasco] [Lawn Parking] [Moving the Grounds] |
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