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Their three-year-old daughter was in tears. The youngsters spent the night indoors, playing video games.

“We’re from northern Ontario, so we know a little bit about rinks, the cracks you have to fill,” Tomlinson said Tuesday.

“He worked at it for a few hours so our kids could go on there and skate, and our friends’ kids … The modification was shovelling it and flooding it. Actually, it would prevent injury.”

At age 36, she embraced the cold weather when she was a girl.

“We would shovel off a rink and skate anywhere our hearts pleased. That was hockey. That was Canadian,” she said.

“We’re raising bubble-wrapped children and it’s a shame. You want people to get out, get active … It’s ridiculous.”

There weren’t any problems when they set up a similar rink the previous Christmas, she said. She has seen people snowshoeing and pulling toboggans across the 12-hectare lake, also known as Klarvatten Wetland, near 82nd Street and 173rd Avenue.

A few weeks ago, a group of teenagers hopped the fence with shovels to clear the snow and skated for the day.

“That’s what kids do in Canada,” she said.

“If we built that rink, we would meet neighbours we haven’t met before, because they would want to come and play … I think Edmonton is missing the big picture.”

While Tomlinson admits going over the fence broke the rules, she thinks the bylaw should be changed. She plans to fight the ticket in provincial court next month, arguing the lake modifications reduced the chance of injuries.