Prince Albert council denies gun store's sponsorship sign at ball diamond

A Prince Albert, Sask. gun store owner says no clear reason has been provided after its sign was removed. (CTV News/Lisa Risom)

Prince Albert City Council chambers were unusually full at Tuesday’s council meeting as the continuing baseball field sponsorship sign issue was on the agenda.

Northern Elite Firearms had sponsorship signs installed at the Kinsmen Baseball Complex in May as part of a fundraising campaign to renovate ball diamonds across the city.

One of those signs was removed from the dugout after council members received complaints from residents.

It was determined that the sign approval process had not been completed by council and that process would need to be completed before the sign could be put back up.

Mayor Greg Dionne and other council members say they have been targets of online abuse and harassment since the sign was taken down.

“And there were some concerns,” said Ward 6 councillor Blake Edwards. “Were they concerns that could have been dealt with? Probably. But the review process that needed to be done by community services needed to be done without the toxic social media that occurred following.”

Edwards says it didn’t need to go that way.

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“It’s not about the sign anymore. And that’s very unfortunate. I believe that sign would be hanging had that not occurred.”

The mayor says his decision was influenced by the negative attacks he had been receiving over the past weeks.

“If the process could have been allowed to go through without the threats, the pictures, and everything else, I believe I’d be relieved to approve it today,” said Dionne about the necessary council approval process. “But I won't be because I will not be bullied, harassed, and I sure won't be threatened.”

Council voted to deny the sponsorship sign request from Northern Elite Firearms.