Police emails urge 'serious discussion' about future of Panda Game

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) raised the need for a "serious discussion" about the Panda Game's future in the aftermath of a second-straight year of rowdy street parties, according to emails obtained by CBC through an access to information request.

Deputy Chief Steve Bell, then interim chief of the OPS, voiced his concerns in an email sent to the mayor, city councillors and several high-ranking city officials shortly after midnight on Sunday, Oct. 2, the day after this year's game between the Carleton Ravens and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

"This post-game activity was completely unnecessary and totally unacceptable," Bell wrote. "Sadly, it raises the need for a serious discussion about the future of this university event."

In a new release later that morning, the OPS stressed the dangerous and sometimes criminal activity of some participants, but did not question whether the game should be cancelled in the future.

Police said they arrested seven people during raucous post-game celebrations, during which one partygoer was videotaped dangling from a street light several metres above a crowd. Charges included public intoxication and mischief.

Police also issued 88 tickets for open alcohol and fined two drivers $2,000 for noisy mufflers.

Anticipating similar celebrations to those that swept through the city's Sandy Hill neighbourhood after the 2021 Panda Game, when revellers filled the streets and flipped a car on Russell Avenue, police vowed to take a "zero-tolerance approach to any illegal behaviour after this year's game.

Kim Ayotte, general manager of emergency and protective services with the City of Ottawa, told CBC in an email that the city has "engaged in conversations with partners" about events that took place after the 2022 Panda Game, as well as a pre-game tailgate party.

Ayotte did not indicate whether those conversations contemplated the Panda Game's future.

Ottawa police, whose current chief Eric Stubbs was hired weeks after the game, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Police laud their own response

CBC Ottawa filed the access to information request shortly after the Panda Game and received more than 100 pages of emails, mostly operational updates sent by police to city leaders.

In an email sent around 3:30 p.m. on game day, police notified city officials that "there were a couple individuals who went for a swim in the canal," but had since exited the water.

In multiple reports, police touted the comprehensiveness and success of their own crowd management efforts.

"We developed a very large, expensive and resource heavy plan to ensure public safety during this Carleton University and uOttawa event," Bell wrote. "It was good that we did. This evening our officers and our colleagues from the OPP were called upon to manage large, hostile and belligerent crowds that refused to leave the area."

A report prepared for the Ottawa Police Services Board estimated the total cost of policing the 2022 Panda Game at between $300,000 and $500,000.

Despite the positive reviews from the OPS, some Sandy Hill residents were frustrated with what they saw as a lack of police action.

Robert Reid, who lives near the epicentre of the celebrations, estimated the crowd occupying an intersection near his home was between 500 and 1,000 people at its peak.

He said some drunk and belligerent members of the crowd shoved, physically assaulted or threw objects at his neighbours. Reid said the crowd dispersed quickly whenever police advanced, but officers rarely did so.

"There's nothing like a row of 50 cops sitting there looking at them and not saying anything to give them the impression that what they're doing is fine," he said.

'To hell in a handbasket'

In addition to police communications, CBC's access to information request turned up three emails from residents calling on then mayor Jim Watson to cancel the game.

"As a city taxpayer, it pains me to think that I am paying the policing costs for a big rip roaring party by those who pay no taxes," wrote one resident, whose name was redacted. "The City of Ottawa is going to hell in a handbasket."

The Panda Game has attracted controversy throughout its long history, which includes brawls, break-ins and commando-style raids by students to liberate the trophy.

Ayotte said the city has not yet received an event application for the 2023 game. A spokesperson for the University of Ottawa said in an email the school is in the "preliminary stages" of planning next year's event.

This year, Carleton University's "student experience office" organized a post-game cleanup effort to clear debris left by the crowds in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South.

On its website, Carleton quotes an assessment of $42 million in economic benefit that can be attributed to the Panda Game.

"We recognize and understand the importance of being a good and responsible neighbour," said a spokesperson for the school. "Consultations with our community partners are ongoing."