The Doug Ford administration will allow Magda Lama and 549 other fully vaccinated healthcare workers to come to Scotiabank Arena tonight to support the Toronto Maple Leafs in their Game 7 against Montreal.
“Following discussions with the Health Medical Director, Toronto Public Health agency, and health advisers, I am pleased to announce that we have the authorization to allow 550 fully vaccinated frontline healthcare workers to be invited to Game 7 of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, “said the Ontario premier from his Twitter account.
Magda Lama (in the pic below – courtesy photo), who has worked as a nurse in the University Health Network for 4 years, received the invitation by email and although she is more of a fan of soccer, the Copa América and Toronto FC, she considers that “it is a gesture positive for the effort we have made ”. She and other workers from that hospital network were the winners of the online raffle.
Mixed emotions, for Game 7
The NHL, and fans in general, had to wait 42 years for the league’s two winningest franchises, the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, to meet again in a postseason series. In this seventh game, the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the professional ice hockey teams with the most followers, has little chance. He hasn’t had a win since 1979.
While for some 550 spectators they are insufficient, others consider that we are not yet in the moment to organize meetings.
A spokesman for Ford’s culture and sports minister said this weekend that allowing fan access would not be possible under current guidelines, even after Quebec officials allowed 2,500 mask-wearing fans to attend the Game 6 in Montreal.
The Ontario premier assured that Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment will allow healthcare workers to enter the game for free and will provide each one with a t-shirt.
The province explained that those health workers entering the stadium must have received their second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine approved at least two weeks ago.
“With precautionary measures in place such as screening, masking, distancing, cleaning, sanitizing and crowd control, public health officials are confident that we can place special fans in the stands to keep risk to a minimum,” Ford said.
The idea first grew out of an online petition started by Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who said allowing some fans to enter the stadium would boost morale among hard-working health and long-term care workers. Brown said his petition reached 10,000 signatures as of Sunday night.
John Tory, Mayor of Toronto, said he was satisfied that the province found a way for some fans of the city’s hockey team to see the game.
“I want to thank Premier Ford and Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment for working quickly to find a way to recognize our frontline workers and bring fans back to the hockey arena,” said Tory.
So far, some 600,000 people in Ontario have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The game starts today Monday at 7 pm. We will have to wait for the disc to be put into play to know the result of both the experiment and the result of the match.
