Ottawa passes job of vaccination checks onto sports leagues
Province says facility owners ultimately responsible, but it often falls to parents
The City of Ottawa says sports leagues are responsible for checking the vaccination status of people playing in or watching an event at city-owned facilities, despite provincial rules that state otherwise.
Ontario's Ministry of Health says the responsibility for checking someone's proof of vaccination and identification or confirming someone's exemption, lies with whoever is responsible for the sports facility, it wrote in an email to CBC.
While the responsibility can be delegated to a staff member, "the person responsible for the business or organization remains responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements under [the Reopening Ontario Act]."
Yet the City of Ottawa requires anyone who rents ice space, for example a hockey league, to delegate a safety officer who is then responsible for checking the vaccination status of their players and spectators at city-owned arenas, according to an email written by Dan Chenier, the city's general manager of recreation, cultural and facility services on Oct. 21.
The safety officer must sign in at a facility to ensure those requirements have been met, including checking a visitor's identity matches their proof of vaccination.
Responsibility falls on parents
When asked about the provincial requirements, Chenier wrote in an email earlier this week that "the city acknowledges its obligations under the provincial regulations," but stood by its policy of having organizations that rent ice ensure compliance with provincial regulations.
He said the city also hired additional staff to help check people's vaccination status at busier locations.
One of the largest minor hockey organizations in the city is Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), relies on parent volunteers.
"The essential component of a minor hockey team are volunteers, and those volunteers are almost always drawn from the parents," said Gary Hopkins, the organization's president.
Hopkins said there were a couple of concerns from parents early on about the role of a safety officer, but that once those questions were answered by the city, he says hasn't heard anyone say they're uncomfortable with doing the checks.
Ultimately, he said, the safety officer is checking the team's players and family members, rather than someone who may wander in and isn't part of the team.
"We're not asking our volunteers to go up to strangers and challenge them for vaccination certificates or anything like that," he said.
Chenier told CBC city staff are available at facilities to "address and resolve instances of non-compliance."
Honest oversights can occur
But whether the city's own policy is being followed at all times and at all facilities is unclear. A CBC employee filmed themself going into a larger city-run arena earlier this week to attend an adult hockey league. They weren't asked for their vaccination status at any time.
While the situation did not occur when a HEO game was taking place, Hopkins said he understands that honest oversights can occur.
"I don't think city bylaw is going to come down on people for that. I think more the issue is willful non-compliance and we have just not seen any of our teams behaving in that manner," he said.
He also said he understands why the responsibility has been passed down to organizations, because the city told him they simply don't have enough staff available to check vaccination status at all facilities.
"In a perfect world, you would have city staff that would be manning all of the buildings, but clearly it's not a perfect world, so this is the compromise that we've been able to strike with the City of Ottawa."