The Manitoba Entertainment Complex (MEC) was an organization of business interests in the city of Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The group was created in August 1994, and sought to ensure the construction of a 16,000-seat multipurpose entertainment and sports complex in the city's downtown area. The MEC's primary intent was to keep the Winnipeg Jets ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team in the city. They were ultimately unsuccessful, and the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

 in 1996.

The primary spokesperson for MEC was John Loewen

John Loewen

John Loewen is a businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1999 to 2005 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, and campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in 2006 and 2008 as a Liberal...

. Other members included Leonard Asper

Leonard Asper

Leonard Asper , is a Canadian businessperson and lawyer. He is a graduate of Brandeis University and the University of Toronto Law School.Leonard Asper is the son of the late Izzy Asper, founder of CanWest Global...

 and Stuart Murray

Stuart Murray

Stuart Murray is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba and leader of the opposition in the Manitoba legislature from 2000 to 2006.-Early life and career:...

.