Danny Williams, Telegram dispute not a city issue, says Danny Breen

A decision by St. John's IceCaps owner Danny Williams to evict The Telegram from a corporate suite at Mile One Centre has nothing to do with the city, says Coun. Danny Breen.

• Danny Williams sues Telegram for defamation
• St. John's approves $700,000 subsidy to cut IceCaps costs

Breen said the downtown arena may be owned by the city, but the lease agreement with the American Hockey League team gives with IceCaps control over advertising in the arena, including access to executive suites.

Breen described the relationship between the city as a landlord-tenant arrangement in which the IceCaps pay roughly$750,000 per season to lease the facility.

He said the arrangement is designed to ensure a stable stream of revenue from Mile One, regardless of the level of fan and corporate support for the team,and avoid risks to city taxpayers.

"Whether what's fair or not fair, that's the business arrangement in terms of the corporatesuites,"saidBreen, who is the city's representative with St. John's Sports and Entertainment, which operates Mile One Centre and the St. John's Convention Centre.

Despite the lease agreement, the city still budgets roughly $1 million annually to offset operating losses at Mile One and the convention centre, Breen explained.

The Telegram disclosed in an article by its managing editor, Steve Bartlett, in its Saturday, Oct. 17 issuethat the IceCapshad terminated the paper's corporate sponsorship.

That includes a corporate suite that Bartlett said was used for much more than hockey games.

"Hundreds of people kids, kidsatheart, community groups, contest winners andourclients have beenourguests there," Bartlett wrote.

Williams alleges he was defamed

The dispute centres around a Sept. 19, 2014Telegram editorial headlined "Buying influence" thatfocused on the city's operating subsidy for St. John's Sports and Entertainment, which operates Mile One Centre, and the implications of political donations.

Williams, the formerpremier ofNewfoundland and Labrador, is suing The Telegram for defamation, alleging that theeditorial is"replete with false and defamatory allegations, implications, assertions, innuendoes and/or comments concerning the plaintiff's character which have caused the plaintiff to be defamed."

The revelation that Williams had also terminatedThe Telegram's corporate sponsorship raised questions about how a the IceCaps organization could evict The Telegram from a city-owned facility, and not just for hockey events.

Breenrepeated that corporate sponsorshipat Mile One is based on a negotiation between a prospective sponsor and the IceCaps.

He said the city stepped away from those activities about five years ago when council decided pass all the risk along to the leaseholder, which in this case is the IceCaps.

"If you want to control that aspect, then obviously you wouldhave to take some of the financialrisk. The public told us very clearlythey didn't wantus to take risks with the building," Breen said.

As for the dispute between Williams and The Telegram, Breenadded:"They have to work out those issues."

Neither The Telegram nor officials with the IceCaps' organization were available for comment.