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• The city council of Christchurch, New Zealand, has officially ended its contract with The Wizard of New Zealand (also known as Ian Brackenbury Channell) after 23 years of service.
Over his tenure, the Wizard cast spells and entertained tourists to the tune of $16,000 per year, but the city no longer believes his services are necessary, Oddee.com reported.
Officially, Christchurch's "promotional landscape is changing," said the council's assistant chief executive Lynn McClelland, with "programs that will ... showcase a vibrant, diverse, modern city."
For his part, the Wizard called the council "a bunch of bureaucrats who have no imagination. I am the original image of Christchurch. They will have to kill me to stop me." [Oddee.com, 10/18/2021]