Manitoba Wildfires Update - June 11, 2025

Dear Conference Participants,

We want to begin by acknowledging the severity of the ongoing wildfire situation and extend our thoughts to all those impacted. We continue to make decisions about The Hockey Conference with wildfire evacuees at the forefront of our considerations. We recognize the critical importance of ensuring evacuees have access to safe shelter and support during this time.

After careful consideration of the current circumstances, we have made the decision to proceed as planned with our upcoming conference at the Fort Garry Hotel. Thank you for trusting that this decision was guided by strong ethical principles and after weighing all factors. As people who live and work in Manitoba, we have the evacuees and the safety of attendees at the top of our minds. 

We have been in constant communication with the hotel about the impact of our conference on the hotel’s capacity to take in evacuees. We have confirmed with the hotel, as of this morning, that the rooms in our block – primarily single occupancy, one-king-bed accommodations – are not well-suited for the needs of most evacuees, many of whom require space for families or longer-term stays. In fact, we were told that a similar event was cancelled last week in the hope of freeing rooms for evacuees, but no evacuees were placed in those rooms, and they remained empty. At issue is that our rooms are booked before and after our conference, meaning that vacating our rooms for three days is not helpful. We have been advised that the Fort Garry Hotel still has vacancy during our conference for evacuee reservations, should they be asked to do so by the Red Cross. 

At this time, the government has not mandated the cancellation of events, and the current conditions do not meet the criteria for invoking a force majeure clause in our contract. Cancelling the conference unilaterally would result in a substantial financial penalty; the hotel would still require payment for all meeting rooms, catering, and tech services. We would incur this penalty with no tangible benefit to those affected by the fires, as our vacated rooms would simply be made available to the general public without assurance they would be used by evacuees.

Finally, while we anticipate a good turnout at this conference, many of our speakers and attendees are local to Winnipeg and have not reserved a room at the Fort Garry Hotel, thus minimizing the number of hotel rooms we have booked as a group. It remains safe to travel to Winnipeg, and we continue to monitor the need for hotel rooms in wildfire efforts. 

In support of those affected by the wildfires, we will be holding a fundraiser raffle during the conference, with 100% of proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross to support wildfire relief efforts. We are currently accepting donations of items or services to include in this raffle, and we invite attendees and community members to contribute. This is one way we can come together to provide meaningful assistance where it's most needed. 

If you have an item or service to donate, please contact Martine Dennie at martine.dennie@umanitoba.ca. 

We remain in close communication with the Fort Garry Hotel and will continue to monitor the situation closely. If circumstances change – either through a government directive or at the request of the hotel due to a clear and immediate need for our rooms – we are prepared to adapt accordingly and proceed with the conference with assurances that our conference will not impede any wildfire efforts.