Two weeks ago, “Ontario’s new minister of children and youth services sent an open letter to [Toronto] city councillors asking that they vote to strike down the ban” on street hockey, which had been prohibited in Toronto for safety reasons.
HALO Director Dr. Mark Tremblay voiced his support for lifting the ban in a story that ran in The Globe and Mail:
Dr. Mark Tremblay said street hockey — more so than organized sport, recreation centres and increased time in gym class — could help stave off child obesity in Canada.
The director of the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at a children’s hospital in Ottawa said building “unorganized sport” like street hockey into kids’ lives will help their health far more than infrastructure and “palaces” for sports.
Plus, Tremblay said, street hockey is “the quintessential image of Canada.”
He said for that reason, street hockey shouldn’t be banned, it should be encouraged on residential streets with low speed limits.
On Friday, July 15th, it was reported that a majority of city councillors in Toronto voted to scrap the ban on street hockey.
