Stéphane Villeneuve has spent more than three years maintaining an ice rink at Parc Desnoyers in Gatineau, Que., but a dispute with the city has him asking whether he should hang up his shovel for good.
Villeneuve, who said he spent hundreds of hours working on the rink last season alone, has decorated a skate shack next to the rink with posters of athletes, as well as advertisements for sponsors who support his maintenance work, which he performs as part of the non-profit group Vision Multisports Outaouais.
He said the sponsorships support more than the rink maintenance: He relies on them to buy hot chocolate and other treats that he serves to skaters.
“If you come in the winter, you’ll see that everyone appreciates it a lot,” he told Radio-Canada in French.
But according to his account of a meeting with city officials last week, they told him he was violating city policies and gave him one week to clear out the shack and return it to its original condition.
“I wasn’t happy,” he said. “It’s for the children that I do this.”
Villeneuve said the city’s initial deadline of Oct. 10 is unreasonable, and said he will “pull the plug” if the city insists on its demands.
Steven MacKinnon, MP for Gatineau, has come to Villeneuve’s defence. In a French-language post to social media, he said he was “profoundly disappointed” to hear the rink is threatened.
MacKinnon is pushing for a solution. In an interview with Radio-Canada, he implored the city to “not kill the Canadian dream.”
“This is very much like the rink of dreams,” MacKinnon said in English. “People come from all over, famous hockey players, up-and-coming junior players, they love to play on this rink … and it certainly deserves to be celebrated and not discouraged.”
Coun. Daniel Champagne, who represents Gatineau’s Versant district, is also hoping to find a way out of the impasse.
“No one — not the city, not politicians or citizens, or anyone in Gatineau — no one wants to see this rink close,” he said. “We are really, really working toward a solution that will satisfy both the city and our friends at Vision Multisports Outaouais.”
In an emailed response, the City of Gatineau said it values the efforts of non-profit groups that maintain 27 rinks across the city, but said they must conform to standards around fire safety and the city’s branding.
Specifically, those standards ban sponsorships in municipal facilities and require advance written authorization for any modifications to the buildings.
The city said it asked Villeneuve to take down the posters and stop any unauthorized work, and added that it will evaluate any alterations that have already happened.
But it said it now realizes that Villeneuve will face difficulty carrying out those demands by the end of the week. In its response, the city said those changes can happen gradually, between now until the winter of 2026-27.
