Songster01

Quick correction: that's _Conrad_ and Joseph jumping, not Bruce. Bruce is the one cheering them on at the end. Bruce is in ID, which is why I hurried over to look at the video in surprise Regardless, it's lovely to see!

Speaking specifically of the Sixteen Mile Road venue hosting ACI, Oakville is in Halton Region, which happily finally joined Toronto in making masks mandatory in public indoor spaces on the 22nd. So that could help _IF_ people wear them properly and extra security is hired to make sure people keep them on properly, none of the uncovered noses and mouths nonsense, which I do see quite often unfortunately, despite the signs showing proper coverage. Also specific to the Oakville rink: on the pro side the hockey glass could protect the skaters from fans' breath in the lower seats. On the con side: people sitting higher up would face no wall. And this study of an outbreak at a German meatpacking plant showed the virus had no problem moving more than 8m in a cold space with minimal ventilation and no filtration in the HVAC: https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1286684497363247104?cxt=HHwWgIC1tfaunNsjAAAA The Sixteen Mile venue is newish, but how good is its filtration (if any exists!) and ventilation? There are only two narrow exits to the main arena that might provide some very limited and localized ventilation since they open into another cool space typically full of people at ACI. So although proper masks would definitely be helpful in keeping the viral load down, when you'd have a packed space full of people yelling for a non-essential activity, like fans attending sports and performing arts, I would still not want to risk it personally. While one might hope for rigorous compliance by Skate Canada, I don't have enough trust in skating feds to take care of people's safety. Hoping SC learned their lesson after Worlds re: fans and safety, is basically just that, a hope. They will talk a good game and might have decent control of athletes, their teams, and volunteers/staff when they enter the arena, but regarding the handling of fans the proof is in how they would control their behavior and facilitate good hygiene. And we have no good examples to point to point to, since Worlds rightly was cancelled. I recall both years I attended ACI in Oakville that security had a problem going after illegal cameras. They would definitely need more people to patrol the long lines and then the entire stands regularly to take care of people not following mask guidelines. Anyway, if the province maintains its Stage 2-3 guidelines (Halton is moving to Stage 3 this week), which would mean a maximum of 50 people indoors, fans are not a viable financial prospect for ACI. Not enough allowed inside to be considered viable, thanks to the costs incurred by fans' attendance. In fact, it's likely the athletes/their teams/rink staff/volunteers surpass that number anyway and would have to be staggered indoors (perhaps set up tents outside for overflow of essential folks?). The province has said it plans to maintain Stage 3 until a vaccine arrives here, and hopefully they will keep their word. So ACI without fans seems like the best to hope for in this province, unless the situation materially changes for the better regarding the pandemic.

ACI might be re-tooled as a domestic event to give Canadian skaters mileage, but I'm guessing it's more likely they'll keep it international to allow the small number of foreign skaters a chance to compete in a lower-stakes event nearby. I can't see it being open to fans regardless this fall. We can't predict where we'll be in the GTA, which alongside Windsor-Essex, remains the most active area in the province, case-wise. Numbers are already creeping up (over 200 yesterday) and that's before the entire province moves to Stage 3 (Toronto is waiting for example) and schools open. Moreover, the newest report (came out yesterday) on the aerosolization of the virus underlines the danger of putting many screaming people into an indoor venue without lots of open windows or top-of-the-line filtration systems: https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1285465200502755328?s=20 If a Harvard epidemiologist is concerned, then we need to pay attention. Masks would help, but the aerosolized virus can hang in the air for hours and go through cloth masks, which is what many ordinary people in Ontario have atm. Not worth the risk to the athletes, their teams, and the volunteers of all kinds there to have fans present.

Note: I realize you are just speculating about SCI and not actually advocating for fans being at SCI, so the following is aimed at solely at SC/the ON gov't: Ottawa is doing well, but the thought of fans at SCI , even just locals, makes me nauseous, since there's the potential for aerosolization of the virus, which could then hang around in places w/ poor ventilation for hours. Or so it seems to be confirmed by research now? Thinking of that recent conflict with WHO and their backpedaling on that issue. Anyway, unless masks were very strictly enforced by security inside the arena, and/or ppl had to prove they were tested recently before entering, I certainly hope the province would not allow it. This skepticism is brought to you by seeing ppl break distancing and other rules often here in TO, and ppl working at small businesses with uncovered noses and mouths this week, despite the new mask rule. The masks were on, but almost useless thanks to them flaunting the rules. Of course, all this is moot, if international skaters aren't being let in except a few Americans who are here to train (which seems backwards, considering how poorly the US is handling things vs. say, South Korea). Or if quarantine is maintained, which I think it should be, because there's still too much uncertainty regarding false negatives in testing, then they are stuck logistically. I'm steamed the MLB is being let in w/o quarantine and that the gov't may let the teams wander back and forth including to known hot-spots. Makes me worry $$ is being put once again ahead of health. If SC decided on a domestic event before CNats w/o fans, as long as they had and enforced strong safety measures, it might work to give Canadian skaters some mileage on their programs. That I might support, whatever happens with the international season. That seems much more doable in theory than international events.

Considering how difficult it has been for even huge pro sports to get it together and avoid people getting sick, international fs series involving many countries from multiple continents at different stages of the pandemic seems rather pie in the sky. Two big feds, US and Russia, are not doing well pandemic-wise (esp the former afaik) atm and people here in Canada are hesitant about the NHL having hub cities here and are very skeptical indeed about baseball's hare-brained idea about shuttling NA teams to and fro across the border repeatedly. "Yes, let's send a Canadian team to pandemic hot spots and then have them come back here over and over! Whatever could go wrong?" /s I'd personally be very disappointed with our federal public health team if they allowed that nonsense to happen. And the first EF game involving the Vancouver team has already been postponed because people tested positive in FL. Considering the makeup of fs and its financial situation I doubt many feds would be able to afford sending/hosting teams for months in a foreign hub. Pro sports that are flush with cash are going to be able to handle the financial strain better and pay for all the testing of everyone present. NZ might be an ideal hub location, but why would they saddle themselves with hosting an unpopular international sport that might create a new outbreak? China has the will and means to test and trace, but has in this case v understandably lost the trust of most other nations considering the damaging secrecy at the beginning of the pandemic. SK did a great job with 4CC but the past financial problems of the fed might mean it can't handle what would be a much bigger event without a v big financial outlay. Japan fed might be able to pull it off financially, but Japan is known to have poor testing and tracing capacity (unless things have changed recently) and is widely suspected of minimizing cases in the run-up to Olys. The US can't be trusted and really should not be thinking of sports when the outlook in much of the nation is looking poor. Canada has a mixed pandemic record and might be an ok compromise, but I bet we'd need serious $$$$ to host a big series and that would not be a great look if much gov't $$$$ was spent on it. And we already are sticking out our neck for more popular sports. BC might be too strict to accept the ISU; they already said no to the NHL. ON has its hands full with NHL and Maybe MLB. Not sure if QU is in a good position to host but iirc they have a better testing/tracing system than ON. Still, I'm not sure ppl would esp trust the combo of US and other foreign feds. Depending on what happens in the fall it might be fine for at least one championship to happen, since it would be much shorter than a series. But even then much prep time would be needed for an isolation period and then weeks of training to make up for the break. Not that I'd trust Sweden to keep people safe after they royally mucked up their response. I'm certainly not going to even ask my immune-compromised spouse re: considering a ticket to an event in a nation with a poor track record that will force us to eat the costs if Worlds is cancelled. Honestly, fans should not be permitted to attend indoor sports events before a vaccine has been rolled out to most of a host country's population.

Confirmation that the border between US and Canada will remain shut for another month: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/border-covid-extension-july-1.5613854 Note: obviously the US Is of most concern to Canadians because of the long border we share; however, as of last week when I checked, we aren't open to any country for non-essential travel. I suspected it might take an exemption for a skater like Yuzu to be able to return, probably using a special study-type visa for athletes training (but not working) here. International students, for example, will apparently be allowed in with certain restrictions, but I'm not sure how many would come, given that a fair number of classes will be online and the potential difficulties if Canada or their home had to go back on lockdown while they were here. Certainly there's been talk over post-secondary institutions losing lots of money in the coming school year over the steep reduction of such students. Regardless, since no foreign skaters who left for their homes afaik have returned yet to TCC, it makes me wonder if there has been no permission given to allow them to enter Canada. Apparently a few NHL players got in to train under their work visas, but it's unclear whether one of the proposed NHL hub cities will be in Canada or not (obviously they''ve been pushing for one up here). Although it was mentioned in a similar news article that some border communities and tourism-related businesses are pushing for re-opening, I've seen almost no disagreement with this decision over the months. It would be rank foolishness for us to open ourselves to foreign tourists (which would be mostly American) any time soon and to let our own people travel abroad and bring back COVID-19 as they did before. It could easily undo all our hard work. While I've no personal objection to a few elite athletes like Yuzu entering Canada as long as they quarantine like everyone else and follow other public health rules and guidelines, I don't know how many people are trying to enter using visas and whether that has strained the system (obviously I'm talking about more than just figure skaters here -- I mean basically any who use study-type visas) to the point where they just aren't processing many. In short, if they are handing out exemptions, I will be happy to see Yuzu and others skate here again if they choose to come, but only if they feel it's safe and as I said before follow public health rules to the T (not that I worry about Yuzu and his Mom!). COVID-19 although gradually declining in Ontario, is not gone and we have a long summer and fall ahead when many people are becoming more active. We've already seen growth in younger Ontarians testing positive recently. In fact Toronto and a couple other regions won't be moving into Stage 2 this Friday as planned. With all that I can't blame any athlete who prefers to stay home, despite the challenges in long-distance coaching. I guess we'll be keeping an eye and out for signs of anyone returning to the roost or for new interviews with TCC coaches...

Long screed on Canadian border & Skate Ontario Stage 2 plan update, and potential ramifications for non-Canadian skaters like Yuzuru who are abroad but train in Canada normally. TL; DR: if skaters are let through under their regular visas or a special exemption, the softer language in SO's newest protocols might provide wiggle room for Y to participate if he and his team consider it safe enough to travel for many hours in a plane and then skate in an indoors rink with up to 10 people (or more if rules relaxed again). ________________________ As I suspected, TPTB are dropping hints to expect the US-Canadian border to remain shut to non-essential visitors for at least another month (current end date is June 21, so late July would be the likely next potential "end" date, though unless things vastly improve in the US I strongly suspect the closure will be extended again): https://globalnews.ca/news/7046333/canada-us-border-restrictions-extended/ The status of foreign athletes is not mentioned, nor does it talk about other countries, but I haven't heard of travel restrictions easing for any other countries (only loosening to date is the recent move to let in immediate family of permanent residents -- afaik this doesn't affect TCC skaters). In an article about the Toronto Raptors I saw this evening the US is definitely permitting elite athletes in under a special exemption, but nothing was said about Canada, perhaps because it now seems like the team's primary goal is getting the team safely ready for Disney, so perhaps it makes more sense for Americans on the team to prep in the States before heading down to FL. More helpful is an older report on the NHL, in which it was revealed that foreign NHL players here have work visas and that their work could be labeled essential enough, as long as they strictly follow the 14-day quarantine: https://www.tsn.ca/border-closure-extension-not-expected-to-affect-nhl-planning-1.1477094 And I've heard that they have already permitted NHL players to cross the border to quarantine before starting any training. I imagine that the figure skaters training here have something like study visas (though hey, TCC, I wouldn't complain if you wanted to hold a livestreamed ice show of your skaters this summer or fall if you want to try the NHL's method for getting everyone across the border with work visas). International students will be allowed to cross under specific rules: The last concern for Yuzu in particular was whether he'd be permitted to skate in Ontario rinks since he has asthma. During Stage 1 SO was clear that people with "lung disease" would not be allowed to train at the rink. Whether or not that meant Yuzu in particular would not be permitted to skate once he passed quarantine is not certain, but I can see clubs being strict about not permitting in vulnerable/at-risk individuals, given that we have lost too many already. So what about Stage 2? There was a bit of delay, but Skate Ontario recently put up its protocols for Stage 2 of the re-opening process. Some changes: https://skateontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Return-to-Play-1.3.pdf Relevant passage: It's clear again that SO will follow the federal government's rules on mandatory quarantining. However, it looks like the language in the statement for vulnerable/at-risk folks has been softened a bit. Rather than the definite "no way should these individuals take the ice" message (see my post on June 3), now it seems like the ultimate decision is in the hands of those individuals. Though "strongly consider" is weird wording. It's like a few words are missing? I might write "strongly consider before participating in [insert activity]", or "should strongly consider refraining from participating in [insert activity]". Obviously nothing is certain until Yuzuru is spotted on the ice in an identifiable location at some point in 2020, if he or his team permit some information on his training location(s) be published, or I see him frolicking in my neighborhood park* (which is open as long as he maintains social distancing). * = it's a significant drive from TCC and not a famous park, so no one would be more shocked than I lol

I donated to the worthy cause. Imagine being stirred to a boiling rage at the mere thought of black trans folk getting wholesome food and non-judgmental, compassionate therapy, when both too often are in short supply, thanks to so many people's prejudices towards the community. I feel extremely sorry for the bigot's daughters and any human who has to deal with him. Unfortunately, Aliev "liked" Yags's so-called apology. https://twitter.com/FSkatech/status/1270543067100016641?s=20 Let us hope Aliev learns from far better people (Jason Brown, Aljona Savchenko, and many more) that Yags's attitudes are vile and bigoted. He's a transphobe, homophobe, misogynist, and a racist: Note: you don't have to like Adam and Hersh to aide with them on important human rights issues. Adam was 100% in the right on supporting black trans lives, donating to the community, and toasting a vile piece of human trash so successfully. Anyway, may Yags's daughters grow up in a better world and learn to reject their cowardly bully of a father's hatred and prejudice. All Black Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. Black LGBTQ+ Lives Matter.

I'm cross-posting this video from Team Canada here because Brian and Tracy speak about how they prepped for opening day in late May at TCC, Brian being the responsible one who makes sure safety protocols are followed strictly, Tracy being positive about the break and talking about stroking and how they were pleased with how well Zoom was working on the ice for their foreign skaters who are back at rinks abroad. No foreign skaters were named, which made sense as this webinar was meant to be focused on the return of skating in the province. They clearly were not taking any questions on specific foreign skaters, but I thought that snippet might cheer you. An additional note is that the SO website will be updating tomorrow, so I will look to see if they have only altered things so that 10 people can be on the ice to reflect that change which starts on Saturday, or if additional policies have also been altered.

Skate Ontario hosted a webinar with Brian, Tracy, and Tracey Wainman (Roman's coach) this evening. News: 10 people will be allowed on the ice (that's everyone and not just skaters) up from 5 starting Saturday. The coaches spoke in detail about the past couple weeks, both the challenges and the good things. Apparently Brian is the "responsible one" when it comes to obeying the new policies according to Tracy. All the coaches emphasized skaters needed to be patient at this time and enjoy the process. All seemed pleased with their elite skaters' progress so far. Tracy emphasized that, with the season in doubt, now is the time to explore and play with new things as skaters:

Update on Asher Hill's story on CBC Sports: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/floyd-george-sports-organizations-hypocrisy-asher-hill-1.5597217 and his interview today on CBC's Here and Now: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-82-here-and-now-toronto Last June Asher told Skate Canada about the racist, homophobic, and misogynistic words and actions aimed at him by a co-worker at a Brampton club over a five-year period and Skate Canada was ok with letting a person hired by that club handle that investigation. Apparently none of the witnesses Asher mentioned were spoken with. That investigator sided with the perpetrator, despite the holes in the case and despite other people also reporting this person. Asher is asking for Skate Canada to re-open his case and to investigate it properly and for a formal apology from them. So far he is unimpressed with their attempts to get hold of him, calling them "performative". IMO the vague and sudden mention of a "black working group" by SC feels more like a desperate ploy than the sign of an institution truly committed to doing better. Also they harped on the qualifications of the third-party investigator rather than what that person actually did in that investigation. Why are they satisfied if the investigator didn't bother to interview witnesses identified by Asher?

Note: unless they have particular health conditions/are on immune-suppressing drugs I don't know about, Jun, Jason, Evgenia, and any other elite foreign skaters may be allowed to come and skate in Ontario, provided they are permitted to enter Canada. As I've said before, they are already letting in foreign NHL hockey players into the GTA as special exceptions, provided they first quarantine for 14 days. So it may be SkOn is applying for certain elite skaters to come back as well, based on that. We'll see what happens! Re: asthma and COVID-19 That's interesting! Since it's still relatively early days in research terms, however, and there is still plenty we don't know with a very high degree of certainty about COVID-19. The science on some studies has been less than stellar (for a recent example the Lancet scandal that broke in the past day or so), which means however striking the information seems to you and me, do SkOn and do public health agencies here consider it certain enough to risk bringing a high-risk individual in, when already they are stretching the rules to have any elite foreign athletes return here? Therefore when the rules explicitly state "lung disease" I wouldn't be surprised if SkOn might be going for a broad stroke to protect those athletes, for there may be liability issues they have to consider. That whole list was about protecting individuals who at are perceived to be at higher-risk, not punishing them. SkOn may want to avoid the bad optics of letting a high-risk individual go to a rink and have them fall ill, especially if that someone is as famous as Yuzu, though I don't think those rules were aimed at any single individual, but based on public health's guidance. I strongly suspect Yuzu has the patience and discipline to handle a required 14-day quarantine. That's relatively little compared to the recovery time for some of his injuries. If he wants the highest level of feedback from Ghislain (or any of his coaches) over a long period and not for a week or two at a time supplemented by videos, then it would be ideal for both to be at the same rink, if it is allowed. It would only be foolish to go through self-isolation if he wouldn't be permitted to skate here and I doubt his team would forget to get a guarantee about that before departing Japan. More importantly, I honestly can't see Canada being so foolish as to toss the 14-day quarantine any time soon (and by soon I mean this summer at the very least), given that Ontario has been having challenges in testing and really reducing cases down to the level that public health has felt comfortable moving quickly in re-opening. Why would we want to muck up any of our hard-won positive results by ending the need to self-isolate too soon? Especially before having months of data about how domestic travel alone is affecting case numbers? I'm not sure it's something anyone should wish for under the circumstances. Limiting international travel strictly and making self-isolation a requirement has clearly helped us; differences among the provinces' situations are linked to when travel was restricted (the theory that the date of Québec's spring break lead to it becoming the biggest epicentre here). In fact, I would be deeply disappointed if they did away with mandatory self-isolation for anyone but for certain essential workers, considering that international travel certainly already lead to the disease getting into the community. Maybe a certain few countries might be considered safe enough someday to be exceptions (NZ? Australia? Taiwan?), but those would be places where the disease had demonstrably been stamped out over a long period. But even then it might be felt that the risks of traveling among others in a plane would mean even nationals from say NZ are not a safe enough bet to come in w/o self-isolating first. Again, it's terrible to have to think this way, when normally it's fantastic to have people from all over visiting and working here. Canada normally should be a country that welcomes visitors from around the globe here enthusiastically. But under these particular extraordinary circumstances, non-Canadians need to respect that Canada will temporarily want to avoid having visitors here unless they are willing to self-isolate for enough time to be absolutely sure they didn't bring the disease here. We managed to avoid the worst level of outbreak of COVID-19 so far, why risk that unnecessarily?

North York Summer Skate in August has been cancelled: https://skateontario.org/skate-ontario-sectional-series-2/ I'm sad, but it's the right thing to do. Ontario has been struggling with crushing the curve, testing, and PPE, so it is better to keep people safe at what would be a busy and therefore high-risk event even if they banned fans and lowered the number of people accompanying skaters. Perhaps if masks were also mandatory for all except those on the ice they might've been able to pull it off, but it feels like mandatory masking has been mostly avoided here (shop employees dealing with the public for example are often maskless even in small shops), or perhaps that was not considered safe enough, since people would be indoors together for hours over several days.

I don't think I saw anyone mention this here (apologies if I missed it!): something to consider when asking when might Yuzu return to TCC is the current Skate Ontario rule from its State 1 Return to Play Protocols: Asthma is considered a lung disease, so I suspect he'd not be permitted at the rink at this time because it would go against Stage 1 rules. Of course those rules may change once we get to a later stage in re-opening. The X factor is at what stage they might loosen that particular restriction and when does Ontario get there. Right now our cases have not been going down decisively and we are still watching to see how the latest Stage 1 re-openings have affected things. Regardless of where cases are at, I'm still not convinced that we should move on to Stage 2 until we have enough PPE for people forced to go to a workplace and I'm not sure that we have enough tracers to handle a major flare-up when more and more people are moving about (easier to trace during a strict lockdown). Obviously ordinary people will have to do their part in not letting things go as the summer weather becomes more consistent, by following social distancing guidelines, washing hands frequently, and wearing masks if you know people might get withing in 3-4 meters of you, such as in shops or some workplaces. I personally don't want rules to be relaxed just so a skating fave can return, or for any other reason except that solid science shows it's safe to do so. Real lives are at stake and if they feel for safety's sake they need to keep those in place, then I am for it. Link to document: https://skateontario.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Return-to-Play-Protocols-Skate-Ontario-1.2-2.pdf

Asher's thoughtful article, since I don't think it was posted on this thread back when it came out. Sad to say I didn't know about it until Asher spoke up today: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/black-history-month-1.5478329?utm_content=bufferddd2d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Asher Hill is courageously and bravely standing up to Skate Canada. As a Canadian I'm disappointed but not surprised, as many Canadian institutions suffer from both systemic and other forms of bigotry:

One additional thing (not sure if mentioned elsewhere before): Jason hopes to do two new programs, but he loves the ones he had this season and doesn't feel quite done with them yet. I wonder if he'll being at least one back for the Olympic season, whenever that is.

Yes, Canada has had that in place for some time, and as @rockstaryuzu said it should remain that way for some time. Especially American visitors are a danger to us, because of how many cases here originated in the States, because of how poorly things are being handled in much of that country, and because it would be very difficult to screen the many visitors who normally drive here to Canada. I suspect we will be trying our darndest to keep the border closed for as long as possible. I know Ontario and Québec have not been shy about having 0 interest in the border opening anytime soon. I mentioned on the General Skating thread that foreign Maple Leafs players (Toronto's NHL hockey team) have very recently been able to (or are about to) cross the border/go through Customs as a special exception to the no non-essential visitors rule, but only if they self-isolate for the full period. It would be a bad look if any non-essential worker were to skip that requirement (in fact I think a few Canadians have gotten into hot water with the law for not doing so after travel). Note, I don't fear that Yuzu or his Mom would ignore these rules. I do hope, however, they have been watching the conditions here in the Toronto area carefully, have noted the potential for things to go south if people here get too lax in the future (sadly I've already seen signs of this even in my own neighborhood and the province's numbers have not been trending well most of this past week), and make a sensible decision based on that and Yuzu's health. Normally, I'd be thrilled to have him and the other foreign skaters back at TCC ASAP, but I also respect their right to keep themselves safe. Each of them should figure out how easy/hard it is to keep safe here and decide accordingly.

It looks like at least some of the foreign members of the Toronto Maple Leafs are or will soon be returning to Canada: Link: https://www.cp24.com/sports/leafs-eager-for-chance-to-compete-in-what-would-be-a-season-like-no-other-1.4957554 Note pro hockey is a more popular sport than figure skating in Canada (the popular pro sports might be exceptions), but this news may suggest that elite athletes may be able to return and quarantine. I hope any athletes returning to Canada will strictly follow quarantine and any additional public health guidelines as they are special exceptions to our current rules about no non-essential visitors. (OK I'm less worried about Yuzu and his Mom and more concerned about pro hockey players following the rules). I'll be frank and hope any people including skaters think very carefully about their safety before deciding on whether to return to Ontario. Canada has not seen the worst of COVID-19 thankfully so far, but as provinces slowly re-open, people are getting more lax. I need only look outside my window here in Toronto to see especially groups of kids, teens, and 20-somethings not practicing social distancing or wearing masks. It's disturbing and it makes me worry we will see case numbers surge again. Ontario needs to change its messaging consistently about who can get tested and we need more PPE, enough so health care workers don't have to ration, and enough of at least surgical or good cloth masks for workers who cannot work from home. We need more tracing ability here in Toronto as well. We get to most people within a day of testing positive (somewhere in the 70-90% range as of a week or so ago), but that happened while most of us were staying at home. Tracing will become much harder as more and more people become mobile and visit more places. With robust testing, tracing, and isolating, as well as a respectful populace that increases mask wearing and continues to physically distance, I would feel more confident about people coming into this situation.

Good for Guillaume! I hope he inspires current and future LGBTQ+ skaters by this move!🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Remember that other countries have different experiences with COVID-19 and even within a country different regions have differences on when cases appear, things peak, new peaks happen, level of health care, etc., etc., so what you perceive in your own locale as doable may be beyond reckless and logistically non-viable elsewhere. Also see racism and perceptions of Western superiority on the part of Westerners being a barrier to conservative institutions (like most skating feds seem to be) on asking the advice of Asian institutions. The BC government at least moved early compared to other Canadian provinces and those results showed, but that just underlined to BC's provincial public health team that being proactive works. Hence, cancelling public events months from now makes perfect sense. In general Canada isn't through its first wave yet, and easing up (as showed here in Ontario) may lead to more cases and later on more deaths. There are murmurs about a second big wave in the fall, perhaps even starting in late summer in North America. Remember too that indoor settings are far more dangerous in regards to transmission, especially in events that last hours or more involving people yelling and screaming and no open windows to ventilate rinks. Finally, consider that so far we've seen few requirements about mask-wearing in non-medical settings for consumers/visitors here in much of Canada. Generally at most masks are "highly recommended" and only very recently. Here in Toronto (Ontario) at most maybe half of customers appear with them in the stores I've visited. To be fair cloth masks sell out very fast and take more time to ship (taking a week or two from locations maybe 45 minutes drive from my place), so accessibility to even cloth masks is still a challenge. So would public health force local fans to wear masks? What if COVID-iots appear and a fight breaks out? Since ACI and SCI are in Ontario, it's best to pay attention to what is going on there, since the provinces have much of the power in determining things like public health rules. Right now, especially as cases have begun to rise again, at most I see the few indoor sports events that happen for the next while (summer at the very least) will not have fans according to provincial rules. No one wants to be the site of a new cluster. Even the plans for popular pro sports like hockey do not allow for fans. That may be a mix of safety and economics. Tickets would have to be much higher to compensate and I'm not sure enough people would want to risk it even if they had the chance. If a new surge is expected in the fall alongside or just before influenza season, then I doubt these rules would change much. As to the border: The US most especially is a huge danger to Canada and yes Canada could be a danger to the US in regards to transmission, and almost no country has escaped getting cases, so quarantining is a must for those few (if any) allowed to cross the border for non-essential reasons in the future. The US-Can border is shut to non-essential travel until late June, and I'd be 1000000000% in favor of it remaining so until after a vaccine is rolled out, or some similar thing happened to make most travellers not a danger to others. ACI and SC often get American skaters as well as American-trained skaters, as well as skaters from other present and former (and future?) COVID-19 hotspots. Racism against people of East Asian heritage is a tragic part of the equation too. There's a lot of vitriol and worse aimed at Chinese folks (and anyone thought to be Chinese) here, so I don't know if Chinese skaters would be barred. Or selected countries may be barred. There would have to be major changes to the way competitions were set up to make Challengers and/or the GP series logistically viable and safe as "series". Nationals (and potentially other domestic events) seem more feasible because there you wouldn't have to worry about foreign teams or fans. You can use them to pick teams in case the championships take place. But even those might happen without fans permitted after the summer passes. If the disease comes back in a big way inter-province travel might be shut down like it mostly is at present in Canada.

Yup he's a GTA boy and I suspect he would have said if he moved way out to BC, because I doubt his coaching team would remain the same if he had. I"m glad he decided not to review skating memes. I was more than a bit surprised when he said he was going to do it. Mature of him to realize the big problems with doing so and pulling back from it. And doing so in a positive way! I understand his frustration with waiting, but watching the numbers go up in Ontario and seeing people being stupid in Toronto (and clearly many other places in the province if the Mother's Day social distancing flaunting theory is true), I'd have 0 problems if they delayed or otherwise pushed back the opening dates even further. Safety of people in the province is paramount. I am happy that Skate Ontario didn't jump to open once May 19th hit, whether or not that happened because provincial public health forced them to wait and to make substantive alterations in the name of safety. No would want a rink to become the site of a cluster. I hope hockey would be kept back for more time for rinks that handle both sports, as things get much trickier once team sports are permitted.

Hey, I am just sharing local info on what's going on regarding sports and one Torontonian's POV on that info, because it might shed some light on the likelihood of whether Yuzuru might be permitted to come to TCC by early July. You are free to think and feel as you want about that information, but please don't tell me how to feel about such an important issue as this, for it involves policies that guard the safety of my country, province, and city. Personally, I don't WANT anyone to _not_ be quarantined when they come to Canada for the foreseeable future (by which I mean before a safe and effective vaccine comes out for ordinary folks here, or a powerful antiviral treatment is found and widely available, which is likely in 2021 sometime at the very earliest). Repatriated Canadians, Yuzu, his mom, or any non-essential visitor having to follow sensible quarantine rules seems less a matter of pessimism or optimism over the presence of COVID-19 in the world come late June/early July, and more a case of me being optimistic that the local authorities care enough for our essential workers and most vulnerable citizens to not loosen our border closure too early, and to not do away with our quarantine rules that are definitely helping keep local residents safe. Note: I don't think Yuzu and his family would want to be given any kind of uniquely exceptional treatment in this context. Nor would I want them come here only to have to worry about their safety because the feds and province underestimated community spread here, or opened things up before we had sufficient testing and tracing capacity for a much more open society (not going into that here in detail, but everything I've seen suggests that we are improving, but we are also not there yet). I suspect you were not trying to be flippant, but I've had American relatives asking me repeatedly when Canada will do them the favor of opening up ASAP for their own convenience. Canada only should re-open broadly when it is safe and sensible to do so for the people who are here and not just because a non-resident like my relatives wants to be able to drive a shorter route to their seasonal residence, or so a favorite elite athlete can get to their usual training centre on time.

Quick follow-up to the question of whether foreign athletes like Yuzuru are being allowed back in the province of Ontario, in the form of a reply by a Toronto sports reporter tonight to a question if any of the foreign players on the Toronto Raptors (pro basketball team) who had left Canada had yet returned: https://www.thestar.com/sports/doug_smiths_sports_blog/2020/05/17/idle-nbaers--crossing-the-border-and-things-we-miss-fill-up-the-.html Obviously a different sport than fs, and an indoor team sport to boot (individual sports are for the moment seen as somewhat less dicey than team sports by the province), but it's also likely a more popular sport than figure skating in the province, especially after their famous win last year. If it turns out foreign players for a popular pro sports team in the province are not being let in as exceptions to the no non-essential visitors rule, then I suspect we will have to await a change in that policy before we can expect to see foreign skaters back in Ontario. Again, this is one sport and based on one reporter's current knowledge and opinion. but if not allowing foreign athletes in as exceptions is the case now, then I fully support the fed and provincial governments in safeguarding Canadians. It does seem fairer to say no to everyone, unless a special relationship with certain foreign countries considered extremely safe was instituted in the future.

Toronto has cancelled the CNE and major festivals this summer until at least Aug. 31. However, sports events not covered in that directive, so atm North York Summer Skate is still on. Rather hoping they consider cancelling it or at least closing it to fans and limiting who can accompany skaters. I guess that may come down to current rules on gathering sizes permitted in the province (or city if they decide to do things earlier in rural areas). Supposedly next week there will be an announced change to those rules, but I feel they are moving too fast in this regard. We've just had a number of important changes affecting businesses made that will take place next week, as well as loosening things a bit in parks, water bodies, etc. :Why not let us keep gathering status quo for another 2-3 weeks and then see how things are going? Better to go slow in re-opening then have to pull back sooner. ETA: Skate Ontario sent out a "hold your horses" notice to Ontario clubs, so at least some places may open later than Tuesday. Following public health's rules may need some time to implement. I fully support everyone taking their time and ensuring everyone's safety proactively.