CFL remains committed to expanding league to Atlantic Canada: commissioner

As Nova Scotia prepares to host its first-ever regular season CFL game, the league said it remains motivated to bring a team to Atlantic Canada.

CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said Friday this is a region where the CFL wants to bring a franchise.

“Atlantic Canada should be represented with its own CFL franchise,” he told Global News Morning.

Pre-pandemic, Schooner Sports and Entertainment hoped to land a CFL franchise in the Halifax area with a proposed $110-million stadium. It was a controversial proposal, due in part to its cost, as well as its proposed location in the Shannon Park area of Dartmouth.

The stadium would have hosted a new team in the franchise, the Atlantic Schooners.

While Halifax Regional Council voted in 2019 to provide $20 million to help build it, councillors decided in 2021 to discontinue work on the project indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ambrosie said there was a lot of momentum to making the Schooners a reality, pre-pandemic.

“It’s probably unfair to say that we were on a two-yard line or a three-yard line,” he said, though adding the buzz was compelling.

“We were then, and we continue to be very committed to expansion.”

When COVID-19 hit Canada, it all had to take a step back, said Ambrosie. But, they’re here now because the CFL believes it’s a place to be.

Though the high cost of the stadium was controversial, Ambrosie said it’s not about a stadium for the CFL, but a stadium for the region.

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“The stadium creates opportunities for economic development, it creates opportunities to really showcase the region,” he said.

“We’re seeing that here… It’s the ‘come for a game, stay for a vacation,’ which is so good for the economy here.”

Ambrosie said the CFL respects local concerns, but it knows that its teams bring a lot of economic value to the regions they play in.

The league is motivated, but it has patience to let the processes of potentially bringing a team to the East Coast work through, he said.

Bringing a new team on board is not the only issue the CFL is dealing with, as allegations of racial discrimination within the game have come to light over the past year.

Most recently, defensive lineman Garrett Marino of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, one of the teams set to play in N.S. this weekend, was hit with three separate suspensions this week, after illegal hits and race-based comments made during a game. It was the most severe discipline ever imposed by the CFL for in-game behaviour.

Ambrosie said Friday the CFL believes it’s moving in the right direction, but when an incident occurs, it’s clear more needs to be done.

“I’m proud to say that in the most recent round of CBA (collective bargaining agreement) negotiations, we agreed to a code of conduct,” he said. The code of conduct will outline expectations of how players interact with fans, and with each other.

“You have to learn from these events… You have to take a moment to celebrate some of your successes. We’ve come a long way from where we were,” Ambrosie said. “Are we far enough? No, but we are making progress.”

Earlier this week, the sound of bagpipes was heard as Canadian Football League (CFL) players touched down in Nova Scotia.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Toronto Argonauts will play at 3 p.m. local time Saturday, at Acadia University’s Raymond Field in Wolfville.

Tickets for the Touchdown Atlantic game have sold out.

Ambrosie landed with the teams earlier this week.

“The buzz in Halifax is amazing,” said Ambrosie of the events planned leading up to the game.

“We drove through Wolfville on Thursday and we could already feel the energy. Everywhere you turn it’s just Atlantic Canada at its best.”

— With files from Jesse Huot, Alex Cooke and The Canadian Press.