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Our new album HAPPYMATIC is available at KELP RECORDS.
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Buy our first album from MUSIC FOR CATS RECORDS
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EMPIRICALS, boycrusher, UKRAINIA!, DOUBLE PUMPERS
We record music at BOVA SOUND
An open letter to Ottawa City Council
From the owners of the Mayfair Theatre
In recent interviews, we stated that the Lansdowne Partnership Plan's 10-screen multiplex would cripple, and in all likelihood kill, the Mayfair Theatre's business. This is because, while we are dedicated to showing independent, classic, foreign and otherwise non-mainstream films, we rely heavily on revenue generated by screenings of popular Hollywood movies to follow through on this dedication.
While supporters of the Lansdowne Partnership Plan have contradicted us in the press, we would like to be clear: this is indeed our business model. If you have doubts, please review the attached calendars of films from past months. We like to think that we know our own business – and our competitive landscape – better than Roger Greenberg does. We are, in fact, in competition with cineplexes and first-run movie houses, as well as with every other entertainment option Ottawa offers. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous at best. Let us further clarify that we are not opposed to fair competition.
But fair competition is not part of the Lansdowne Partnership Plan.
Setting aside its sole-sourced, unsolicited nature, The Lansdowne Partnership Plan uses public funds to subsidize a mall to be filled with large-scale, chain retailers based outside of Ottawa – and, it is not unreasonable to assume, outside of Canada. It is, in spite of all claims to the contrary, bringing big-box stores with it. What is a 10-screen cinema if not a big box? What is a 40,000 square foot grocery store if not a big box?
How big does a box have to be before we can call it a big box?
The interests behind the Lansdowne Partnership Plan split hairs as to the definition of a big box store, but when our livelihoods – as well as those of our employees and our neighbours – are on the line, arguing semantics quickly loses its charm. No matter how you define your terms, this is the equivalent of opening a Walmart across the street from a mom-and-pop shop. “Competition” is not the word that springs to mind.
The Mayfair is one business. But it is more than that. It is a case in point.
It is a case in point of how the interests behind the Lansdowne Partnership Plan use misinformation to argue their case. How the Plan is ill conceived, and based on assumptions and unconfirmed assertions. How it runs counter the interests of Ottawa’s businesses – and citizens.
When Council originally voted to designate the Mayfair a heritage building, Mayor Larry O'Brien spoke – and voted – against the designation, saying "It comes down to you either believe in heritage or you don’t."
Based on the vote that followed, however, the majority of City Council does believe in heritage. You understand that there is more to heritage than old buildings. Our heritage is what we have inherited, but it is and what we have today – the economy, the infrastructure, the culture and the values we will leave to future generations.
There is no better place to stand up for that heritage than at Lansdowne Park, on the banks of Ontario’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Canal. At the Mayfair, we stand up for heritage. We stand up for small businesses. We stand up for our community. And we stand up for our city.
And now, we need you to stand with us, by voting against the Lansdowne Partnership Plan.
In the time between now and the vote, we would like to invite you to consult the attached calendar and make a date to come see a movie at the Mayfair. Because, for the present at least, the popcorn is hot. The flicks are cool. And it’s business as usual.
Sincerely,
Mayfair Theatre
Sent on behalf of the owners, employees and 5,680 members of the Mayfair Theatre, and in solidarity with Ottawa’s small business community. This letter has been copied to all Ottawa City Councillors and the office of Mayor Larry O'Brien, as well as to various Ottawa media outlets.
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