‘THIS IS A HUGE PRIORITY’
Sport minister eyes concussion plan
Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough wants to assure parents the federal government takes seriously their fears about Canada’s inconsistent policies around concussion management.
Qualtrough, a two-time Paralympic swimmer, pledges her government will act to ensure all athletes — from the playground to the podium — are cared for if they suffer a head injury.
“My message, both as a former athlete and a parent myself, is I share their concern,” Qualtrough said Thursday from Ottawa. “This is an issue we need to address on a bunch of different levels, with a bunch of different stakeholders, ranging from sport organizations to health organizations to provincial governments to the federal government.”
Qualtrough announced last week that she is teaming with Health Minister Jane Philpott to create a harmonized education and management strategy to better address the dangers of concussions in sport.
Her comments follow the publication last week of Postmedia’s four-part series on concussion management in youth sports. In this country, concussions protocols vary wildly from province to province or city to city — even in the same sport. According to a poll released in 2014 by the Canadian Concussion Collaborative, 59 per cent of national and provincial sports organizations do not have a mandatory concussion protocol in place.
All 50 U.S. states have laws dictating the management of youth concussions. In Canada, Ontario would be the first with the passing of Rowan’s Law, the concussion bill named after 17-year-old Rowan Stringer, who died after suffering two concussions within a week while playing high school rugby in Ottawa. Second reading of the bill is scheduled for Dec. 10.
Stringer’s death triggered a coroner’s inquest that cast a harsh light on youth sport concussion protocols in Canada, The first of the jury’s 49 recommendations, released in June, called for Ontario to adopt Rowan’s Law, an act governing the management of youth concussions in all sports. The bill would establish a committee to determine how best to act on those recommendations within a year.
Qualtrough calls Rowan’s Law a step in the right direction.
“It raises awareness of the issue, which I don’t think can ever be understated how important that is,” she said. “And secondly, I think it provides a road map for how we can address the gaps in our current system.”
Sport Canada had previously formed a working group on concussions and head injuries, with representatives from federal, provincial and territorial governments along with medical experts.
“We’re not going to drag our heels on this,” Qualtrough said, without putting a deadline on the creation of a national strategy. “This is a huge priority.”
Still new to the job, Qualtrough said she is unsure if federal legislation is the way to proceed.
“I want to hear more from stakeholders on how we can best address this,” she said. “The lawyer in me appreciates having a legal framework for any kind of issue like this. I also understand that good law needs to be supported by good policy and good policy needs to be supported by good programs.”
Dr. Jacqueline Purtzki, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Vancouver’s G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre, said concussion laws would be a welcome tool in saving lives and preventing suffering in young athletes,
“If you’re a coach or a physical education teacher, I think it’s helpful if we have some legislation with guidelines to give them an understanding of what their responsibilities are,” Purtzki said. “And it also helps when you have to deal with players and parents, because they might not want to sit out. They might want to get back to school or P.E. It raises the bar for everyone to do the responsible thing.”