‘Ministry of Cricket’, the tongue in cheek name Angus Bell came up with for his new sports-plex in Montreal, is not acceptable to the province’s business regulators.
Minister of Cricket and other Homeless Sports
The centre, which will open in September, houses three turf-fields that can be rented for cricket, soccer, rugby or even quidditch. It’s the joyful endeavour of Bell, who jokingly refers to himself as the Minister of Cricket and other Homeless Sports.
In most of Canada, sports are all about hockey, football and a growing appreciation of soccer. But Angus Bell is having problems with Quebec’s Resgistraire des Entreprises in registering the name of his enterprise. It seems the humour is lost on them.
When a local radio program tried to intervene with the Registraire, they received the explanation that the rules stipulate “the name must not falsely imply that the enterprise is a non-profit group or a public authority or that the enterprise is linked to such an organization.”
Ironically, Bell can’t use his own name, as the Bell Centre is already taken for the huge arena that houses the local and much-loved Montreal Canadiens and their hockey season, as well as all the big concerts that come through town.
Angus Bell plans to submit the same name again, and include, Ministry of Cricket and other Homeless Sports (Ministère du Cricket & Autres Sports Orphelins) on his application, with the Registraire early next week. But he is concerned he’ll get the same response.
“Nobody else has this name,” Bell told CBC radio. “We wanted something that stands out and promotes cricket and other sports.
They’ve been using the name in all the promotional material and on their website, so changing it all now would be difficult.
“It affects everything,” said Bell. “All our permits are hinging on our name.” The publicity, however, could hardly be bought!
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