Ford’s onside, but says hub not his call
Premier suggests Ottawa should have final say on Toronto hosting playoffs
When it comes to Toronto becoming a hub city for the NHL this summer, Ontario Premier Doug Ford passed the puck back to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“That’s going to be up to the federal government,” Ford said Wednesday in his daily briefing. “But I think it would be great for Toronto.”
Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver want to be one of the two hub cities that would each host 12 teams as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs, after the season was paused March12 for the coronavirus pandemic.
Ford said the federal guidelines for self-isolating when people arrive in Canada — they must quarantine for 14 days — stand in the way of the NHL setting up shop in Toronto.
“If (the federal government decides players need) to selfisolate for two weeks, I guess the NHL won’t be coming to Canada,” Ford said. “That’s fine.
Whatever works.”
Trudeau had a different message on Tuesday, suggesting his government would not stand in the NHL’s way if all layers of government and public health officials were on board. But he also said the U.S. border would remain closed to all but essential traffic until July 21.
More than 156,000 people, including 98,000 truckers, crossed into Canada at a land border during the week of June 1-7, according to the Canadian Border Service Agency. More than 26,000 travellers came to Canada by plane, including nearly 7,000 from the United States, the agency said.
The NHL is believed to have proposed the idea of a group quarantine, which would keep the players, coaches, trainers and other staff separate from the population at large.
“They have some stringent testing requirements that the
NHL has put in place,” Ford said. “They said they were going to test their players every single day, even though the medical advisers have told me they don’t need to be tested every day. But they’re going to test them every day, keep them selfisolated from Point A to Point B, from the hotel to the rinks. “The NHL has gone above and beyond what they need to do. But it’s going to be up the federal government to make that decision.
“In August, I personally would like to see the NHL. But I’m not making that call.”