A new batch of Access To Information records shows Rideau Hall quietly pushing ahead with a multimillion-dollar skating pavilion, even as Ottawa warns Canadians to prepare for leaner days. Blacklock's Reporter says Governor General Mary Simon approved plans for a permanent open-air rink complete with artificial ice and a decorative roof, but staff refused to say how much taxpayers will ultimately spend.Internal emails put the price tag somewhere between $4 million and $8 million. One sole-sourced contract worth $377,445 went to Glace Concept Expertise of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que., to build the refrigerated ice system.Officials argued the roof was needed to keep the rink intact. A December 4, 2024 memo questioned the idea of enclosing the ice surface before answering its own concern: the cover would boost public use and stop sunlight, dirt, and leaves from turning the ice to slush or forming craters. Managers said the pavilion would be a permanent structure with pipes set in concrete and a roof meant to shield the rink “from climate change.”.The memo also pitched the project as a nod to winter tradition, calling skating a classic Canadian pastime with “heritage significance” at Rideau Hall. But when asked Friday how much had already been spent, staff declined to answer. Key budget details were blacked out in the released documents.The pavilion formally opened November 22, only weeks after Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told taxpayers to brace for tough times and insisted the federal government needed to tighten its own belt. “Will there be tough choices to make? Definitely,” he said.The Rideau Hall build is the largest skating project since the Treasury Board spent $8.2 million on a temporary rink on Parliament Hill in 2017, a move that drew heavy criticism. “More than $8 million on a temporary skating rink,” then-Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer said at the time. “Why does the Prime Minister keep spending so recklessly and sending the bill to the next generation?”
