Vancouver Canucks should help pay for playoff festivities, city councillor says

A city councillor wants the Vancouver Canucks to help pay for public events if the team makes another deep playoff run. The NHL club stands to profit from playoff games, so it's only fair it should pay some of Vancouver city bills, says George Affleck, as the wheels of justice slowly cycle last year's Stanley Cup riot suspects through the system.

"Event management in Vancouver is quite expensive," Affleck said on CKNW News.

"The biggest cost for any event organizer is generally policing and as we know policing's a pretty crucial part of major events so I'm hoping we can see the Canucks come to the table with some cash to cover mayor the policing or other events going on around."

The city spent millions of dollars on policing the street celebrations during the Stanley Cup final series, not to mention the extra cost of cleaning up after the riot following the Canucks' loss in the deciding game, echoing the 1994 Stanley Cup riot.

This year, the city has nixed the idea of big public live sites where thousands gathered to watch the games on giant open-air TV screens. No firm plans have been revealed but it's considering smaller, spread-out events with tickets required for entry and alcohol restricted.

"We really feel like we want to celebrate the Canucks, we want to do it responsibly, so we're looking at what sorts of activities we could support as a city," deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston told CTV News.

Canucks officials have been involved in talks with the city but details, including who should pay, remain to be worked out.

"My personal opinion is that the Canucks need to pony up some cash. It's their event, they make a lot of money and I don't think the city should be funding all these parties," said Affleck, a member of the opposition Non-Partisan Association civic party.

Meanwhile, four more people have been charged with offences connected to the riot last June 15. They are facing nine counts in all, ranging from participating in a riot and mischief over $5,000 to break and enter. After nine months of investigation and massive publicity, Vancouver police have recommended 348 charges against 150 suspected rioters. The Crown so far has approved 186 charges against 71 suspects, the Vancouver Sun reports. Only a couple of people have actually gone to court, including a 21-year-old Vancouver man sentenced to 17 months in jail for wrecking a police car and vandalizing a downtown clothing store.

The pace of the prosecutions sparked complaints the system is moving too slowly.