New Group Identified as a Prospective Ownership Group
On TSN’s ‘Insider Trading’ segment tonight, Chris Johnston reported a new development on the LeBreton Flats bidding process.
“Yes, and that would be LeBreton Flats, the much discussed area where the Ottawa Senators have been trying to build a rink it seems like for years. What Gary Bettman said is still true, Geno. It’s no slam dunk at all that the next owner of the Ottawa Senators will be building an arena down there. But, an interesting detail has emerged from one of the groups bidding for the team. And, that’s that the Algonquins of Ontario are part of the First Nation’s group which has stepped up and is trying to buy the Senators. And, why that’s significant is because the Algonquins actually have a land claim on that piece of property at LeBreton Flats. It’s controlled. It’s a federally run piece of property, but there are clearly some unique opportunities there if they are indeed the winning bid. I can tell you that that group’s representatives from it – which has partnered with Graeme Roustan – were in Ottawa Monday for the Panthers/Senators game and they met with management on Tuesday. They very much remain in the mix trying to buy this team.”
Lots of digital ink has been spent reporting on Ryan Reynolds’ Remington group or the consortium of Toronto billionaires who are looking to get involved, but to this point, I cannot recall ever hearing or reading about the First Nation’s group being an involved group looking to bid on the Ottawa Senators.
After doing a little digging (thanks Sens Reddit), I found that Johnston actually detailed this group’s interest about a week ago.
When the NCC announced that it had struck a deal with the Senators’ RendezVous group back in 2018, it acknowledged that it would continue to consult with the Algonquin Nation before finalizing the project.
Interestingly, a separate group under the umbrella of the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO), the same group that Johnston referred to in his hit, were also engaged in talks with the governments of Canada and Ontario over land claims that included LeBreton Flats.
A Centretown News article written by Jamie Pashagumskum shed some light on the AOO.
The AOO consists of 10 communities in Ontario, including the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation, located at Golden Lake, about 100 km west of Ottawa near the town of Eganville.
In 2016, the AOO signed its own agreement-in-principle with the provincial and federal governments. This included the transfer of certain pockets of lands to the AOO, as well as $300 million in compensation for the group extinguishing claims over other lands — including LeBreton Flats.
Johnston alluded to there being some unique opportunities available if they are indeed the winning bid, but as to what that entails, I am not entirely certain. My assumption would be that there would be some unique financial benefits to having an indigenous ownership group.
My insight into indigenous land claims may not be vast, but I do recognize the name of Graeme Roustan from Johnson’s hit.
Roustan, if you will recall, is a businessman who tried to pursue the development of an arena in the GTA for the greater purpose of securing a second Toronto-based NHL franchise in 2012. In 2018, Roustan bought The Hockey News from Quebecor in 2018.
The latter point being especially interesting because in 2021, Roustan authored and published a Eugene Melnyk propaganda piece in his hockey magazine.
At the time this editorial was published, Roustan posted the link on Twitter to spur views. Predictably, when Senators fans read the piece and fairly challenged him on several points, Roustan turned into a giant pissbaby and hilariously started blocking every Senators fan who responded to his since-deleted and heavily ratioed tweet.
Thankfully, nothing ever truly disappears on the internet.
If Roustan becomes part of the next ownership group, he may have to spend considerable time unblocking half of the fan base.
Cam Talbot Contract Talks?
I missed his interview on TSN 1200 today, but according to the excellent lads from the Senstennial Podcast (give them a follow on Twitter), Dean Brown reported that the Senators have tried to negotiate a contract extension on two separate occasions with impending unrestricted free agent Cam Talbot.
Without knowing how time-sensitive Brown’s information is, it is possible that the goalposts have moved for Talbot’s camp since the time the two parties were engaged in discussions. Having said that, if Talbot is still looking for that kind of money, the Senators would be best served to move on and looking at less expensive alternatives that can provide similar (or better) results.