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Vancouver City Hall appears to have been playing hardball with the owners of Vancouver’s minor league baseball club in negotiations over the lease of Nat Bailey Stadium.

The City of Vancouver and the owners of the Vancouver Canadians both refused to answer questions about the lease when approached, citing the confidential nature of the continuing discussions.

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But an audit of the Nat Bailey Stadium lease obtained through a freedom of information request shows city auditors complaining over what they called “non-compliance issues” and “deficiencies” in areas including ballpark maintenance and a lack of oversight.

That report, finished in June 2019, recommended the city hold off on a development permit sought by the Canadians’ owners, who were seeking to expand their operations at the city-owned Nat, until the two sides could negotiate terms for the third five-year term of the Canadians’ lease. That lease came up for renewal in 2017, but negotiations were still in progress this month, almost three years later.