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Last year, thieves took a bouncy castle away from children at the Beechwood farmers’ market in Vanier. This year, the Ontario government did it.

The bouncy castle, a three-by-three-metre inflated trampoline with sides, replaced a much bigger one stolen last summer. That was a six-by-six-metre, 200-kilogram leviathan, so big it had to be stored outside, where, as it turned out, it wasn’t safe.

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There was never any real question about replacing it.

“Parents come and they can leave their kids for 10 minutes while they shop — so that’s value, huge value,” says Chris Penton, the manager of the Beechwood Market. “It may mean the difference between spending the extra $20 for the vendors or not. I can’t quantify it, but I know it’s a huge draw. I put it on all the marketing.”

The new one, imported from the U.S. for $600, has cost $13 for each minute it’s been used.

“We inflated it on the first day of the winter market,” Penton says. “We did this thing and within, I don’t know, we opened at 10, within 45 minutes this guy just came out of nowhere and said, ‘I’m a patron, I’m a customer, but I’m also a safety officer for the Technical Standards and Safety Authority of Ontario and … you know, you have to have this permit for your bouncy castle.’ Which I didn’t. I was totally ignorant.