Letter to the Editor: Re: Boo at the Zoo cancelled due to cost, Feb 19, 2012
February 19, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Boo at the Zoo has been a popular fall activity for thousands of Winnipeggers, lasting 17 years. Yet only four years after the City handed the park over to a private board (the Assiniboine Park Conservancy), Boo at the Zoo has been cancelled. The Conservancy cites one year of posting no profits from the event and weather as the determining factors.
CUPE Local 500, representing Winnipeg’s municipal employees including staff at Assiniboine Park, has been on the forefront of informing the public of what happens when private companies take over public assets. This is a clear example of a private board cancelling a popular community program. We need to continue to put pressure on the City of Winnipeg to reject the privatization of public assets, because as the Assiniboine Park Conservancy said: “there is no chance Boo at the Zoo will return”. What else are we willing to lose?
Mike Davidson
President, CUPE Local 500
