Media releases

• Brock research explores Niagara Canada Games municipal collaboration

  Friday, December 08, 2023 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: December 8 2023 – R0116

  Although Niagara’s 12 municipalities worked together to host the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games, collaboration was experienced differently across the region, says new Brock University research.

  Following the dissolution of the Niagara Sport Commission, the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games Host Society was created to carry out preparations for the event.

  But the loss of the regional organization changed the dynamic of Niagara Region’s planning process, new research from the Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) has found.

  “Rather than being a tightly connected, collaboratively-working network, most of the time municipalities were connected to, and working with, the host society,” says Associate Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Kyle Rich, one of the authors of the latest NCO brief.

  This was one of several findings that emerged from the research, “Municipal collaboration in regional event hosting processes: The case of the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games.”

  The research team, headed by Rich and consisting of Associate Professors of Recreation and Leisure Studies Erin Sharpe and Martha Barnes, NCO Research Co-ordinator Carol Phillips, and Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Graduate Student Emily Romano, set out to document how local municipalities co-operated once Niagara was chosen to host the Games.

  Through a series of interviews and analyzing social networks, the team set out to explore municipalities’ understandings of collaborating within a regional hosting process and how assets, knowledge, networks, and other capacities shape relationships within the regional hosting process.

  Rich says that a range of professional sport and recreation officials from various municipalities exchanged ideas at the planning table in the lead-up to the successful bid, but once the host society was created, inter-municipal communications decreased and the nature of that collaboration changed.

  “Because of how the network was structured, many municipal officials said they lost that ‘Team Niagara’ feeling of working towards a common goal,” says Rich. “They felt their hosting role was much less involved and meaningful, with the host society becoming ‘just another user group.’”

  Other findings include:

  • A regional mindset or identity was an important factor in establishing initial and continued buy-in for the regional hosting model.
  • The geography of the region and the varied funding, assets, staff, and other resources across municipalities complicated the processes for some municipalities to participate in parts of the event.
  • The ’13-for-13’ cultural program, which saw each municipality host a festival that celebrated a particular province or territory, was a successful and celebrated way for all municipalities to be connected to regional event hosting processes.
  • Municipalities defining the regional hosting approach as being a success were those that thought the benefits of their participation outweighed the costs, whether they were large or small.

  The research resulted in four recommendations on how to use municipalities’ existing networks, set up collaborative structures before event planning starts, develop mechanisms to facilitate participation in the event, and be “creative and strategic” when planning sport and cultural programs.

  “The findings of this research will inform structures and strategies that enable municipalities to work well together and gain benefits for their own municipalities, and also how event bids are pursued and assessed,” says Rich.

  Brock University Associate Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Kyle Rich is available for media interviews on the topic.

   For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases

• Alcohol distribution changes to diversely impact Ontario, says Brock expert

  Monday, December 04, 2023 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: December 4 2023 – R0115

  As the provincial government prepares to change the laws for how beer, wine and spirits are distributed in Ontario, a Brock University expert says it could lead to a seismic shift in the way alcohol is purchased in the province.

  Professor of Health Sciences Dan Malleck says the changes will begin with The Beer Store but ultimately impact consumers and other businesses.

  “It seems clear that the province is interested in ending the near monopoly of The Beer Store,” he says of the shift that could see alcohol sold in private retail outlets like supermarkets and corner stores.

  Having described The Beer Store as a “relic of the immediate post-prohibition era,” Malleck says the distributor will need to evaluate whether it can continue to exist.

  “The Beer Store itself will be negatively impacted unless it can pivot to a retail model that works for Ontarians,” he says. “This is possible since it already has the infrastructure, but whether the owners care to do that is difficult to say. They may find getting rid of the costs of running stores and just selling through other retailers is more practical, though that would obviously be very troublesome for the store’s unionized workers.”

  In contrast to The Beer Store, Malleck says changes could be both positive and negative for consumers of alcohol in Ontario.

  “Consumers may benefit if the changes increase choice, but it may also result in alcohol deserts in areas where there are no vendors willing to take on the challenges of providing booze,” he says. “Municipalities who issue retail licenses to private vendors, such as corner stores, may face pressure from concerned residents since alcohol continues to be a hot-button issue nearly a century after prohibition ended.”

  Malleck says there could also be environmental and taxation repercussions from the shift in policy, given The Beer Store’s return program for empty alcohol containers.

  “If there is no way to deal with empties, there may be an additional cost on the province, which will of course translate to taxation,” he says. “But if the booze manufacturers are required to deal with their own empties (as current policy on general recyclables requires for other products), it may make an incentive for better packaging.”

  While much of the coverage of the changes will focus on the potential demise of The Beer Store and its impact on various parties, Malleck believes final consideration should also be given to changes that could be coming to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).

  “The LCBO remains the regulator and distributor, and that may continue, as happened in B.C.,” he says. “That creates a parallel system of government-owned and private liquor stores and can have its own set of pros and cons.”

  Dan Malleck, Professor and Chair of Brock’s Department of Health Sciences and Director of the Centre for Canadian Studies, is available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases