Signs declaring "no hockey" will likely be popping up across North Bay after the city elected to shut down all its outdoor rinks following new lockdown measures announced this week. Also closed were the Lee Park Ice Oval and toboggan hills at Lee Park and Thomson Park.
Shortly after the news of the pending provincial lockdown came Tuesday, Mayor Al McDonald said he scheduled a meeting with the emergency operations control group, which includes the police and fire chiefs, the hospital CEO, the chief medical officer, the city CEO and the mayor himself.
"We listen to the advice from our medical professionals and have since day one," said McDonald.
During that meeting the situation with outdoor rinks and sledding hills came up.
McDonald says the large crowds that have been gathering at the ice oval and the sledding hill in Lee Park, made the decision easy.
"What we did notice was crowding, especially at Lee Park and some of the sliding hills and we were experiencing crowds," said McDonald.
"So when the stay-at-home order came into effect and we spoke with the medical officer of health, it was not lost on him that the rinks were overcrowded and the hills were overcrowded."
McDonald feels that just shutting down that one hot spot and leaving the rest of the outdoor rinks open, was not a good option.
"We asked staff and they admit those other locations have not seen the influx of people like at Lee Park," noted McDonald, who prides himself as a supporter of both hockey and healthy outdoor living.
He says the city does not have the proper software to create a scheduling system for outdoor rinks like other municipalities have plus they don't have enough staff to police the rinks.
"We don't have the staff to stand at a rink from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week at all these different facilities. We just don't have those types of resources. In the absence of having all those resources we just could not go into a scheduling type for the outdoor facilities."
However, Mother Nature is also not helping matters either. Technically, due to weather conditions, the outdoor rinks would be closed today anyway.
McDonald admits though, with only one bylaw officer, the city is just hoping people follow the rules during this lockdown.
"It is impossible for us to enforce it," admitted McDonald.
"This is in the spirit of the recommendation and spirit to stay home.
"Are we going to give tickets to 10-year-old's, absolutely not, Can our bylaw officer go round and round to the rinks, no, that's impossible, our police have really important things to do over enforcing somebody skating on an ice surface or going down a hill. We are asking for compliance. We will do our best and we will post signs and close off the parking lots so people cannot just go and park.
"To be honest, if somebody goes out for a skate, there is not a whole lot we can do."
