Saskatchewan’s ultimately ill-fated bid to become a CFL hub city was the main subject of the provincial COVID-19 update on Tuesday.
Questions on the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ bid for Mosaic Stadium to be the locale for the CFL to hold all its games in 2020, and about the province’s commitment of $3 million if successful, dominated the news conference.
There was plenty of interest from reporters in the room and on the phone line about how a Saskatchewan-based CFL football hub would work and what health protocols would be put in place.
But midway through the news conference, news broke that in fact Winnipeg was awarded the Hub by the CFL on a tentative basis, pending final approval of health and safety officials.
When informed of this news by a reporter on the line, Premier Scott Moe snapped his fingers and shook his head.
While expressing disappointment, Moe quickly accepted the decision, saying he wanted a strong CFL for the Riders to play in for the “next 110 years”.
“If we have to go to Winnipeg to get our Grey Cup, we’ll go do that,” said Moe.
The province’s pledge to support Saskatchewan’s hub city bid had earlier come under quick scrutiny at the news conference.
Premier Moe was asked right away whether their $3 million commitment was the best use of public money in a pandemic, and he was also asked why the government was able to quickly find money for the Riders when they weren’t able to find money for some of those other requests.
Moe responded the reason the province was supportive, as was other organizations like the Regina Hotels Association, was because of the "economic opportunities the bid represents".
“We are trying to recover our economy here in Saskatchewan,” said Moe.
He pointed out that it would fill some hotels around Regina and be a boost to the local and provincial economy.
Moe did acknowledge challenges with their bid, noting that international flights are a challenge into Regina. “That’s something we continually need to work on for the broader benefit of Saskatchewan people, not just for this particular bid.”
But he emphasized “none of this moves forward without the support of the federal government."
“The federal government ultimately has a decision to make before I think there is any hub city activity that does occur,” said Moe.
When asked about concerns from the public about players flying in to Saskatchewan and possibly “put at risk” the progress in fighting COVID-19 by bringing the virus in, Moe replied those were valid concerns.
He pointed to the work of Dr. Saqib Shahab and his office to ensure safe parameters were put in place to ensure the individuals coming are quarantined and are in a bubble, and are not putting the general public or one another at risk.
“Wherever this hub city occurs... I think it’s fair to say that the risk needs to be minimized as much as it can be,” said Moe.
Dr. Shahab noted the general quarantine rules for international travel applied, but also pointed to the exemptions in place for truck drivers and the oil and gas sector as examples.
He emphasized the best option was to have two weeks quarantine before engaging in any play, but added if there’s any federal exemptions that are approved, then it would be to “remain in the bubble” for that period of time and minimize any contact with the host community.
