REGINA — The bill to bring tailgating to Saskatchewan Roughriders games this upcoming season is now officially law.
The Tailgating Act passed third and final reading at the Saskatchewan legislature on Thursday and shortly after was given Royal Assent by Lt.-Gov. Bernadette McIntyre.
Speaking to reporters shortly after, Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Minister Warren Kaeding said he was pleased to see the bill finally passed.
“I’ll tell you what, we as well as the Roughriders are very excited that the Tailgating Act has now got final reading and Royal Assent, and we know the Riders have been very active at promoting the tailgating activity, and we’re just so looking forward to game day and seeing how creative our Rider fans are going to be in supporting it.”
Kaeding said the Riders were “very good partners” with the SLGA in engaging with key stakeholders, including entities such as Regina Fire, Sask. Health, and others involved in regulations. He acknowledged a number of considerations in crafting the bill.
“With tailgating, there’s all kinds of activities. Certainly, being able to bring your own alcohol on site certainly is the one, so we want to make sure there’s responsible use of alcohol,” Kaeding said. “So SGI was certainly a key stakeholder in that side. We’ve got kids, we got adults, we’ve got all ages are going to be involved in it, so we want to make sure that everyone has got the best of the experience there. As I think everyone’s familiar with tailgating, there’s going to be a lot of food cooked. And so we want to make sure that everyone does that in a safe manner as well.”
Kaeding noted Saskatchewan is the first jurisdiction in Canada to allow this at this level. A couple of other jurisdictions had requirements to buy their own alcohol at a confined or set space, with some definite limitations.
“We’re definitely modelling this on the best fan experiences across North America,” Kaeding said.
When asked if they had a particular tailgating experience in mind as a model, Kaeding said “we’re going to make this our own. It’s going to be our own identity, and really looking forward to talk about the creativity of our Riders fans here.”
Kaeding also said “absolutely” he would be there on the first day. When asked by reporters if he would be wearing a watermelon helmet, he replied: “I may or I may not be wearing a watermelon helmet.”
