Return from Lockdown
Submitted By
Deb Larsen on Tuesday, February 16, 2021
While
Ontario’s province-wide State of Emergency ended on Tuesday, February 9,
Markham continues to be under shutdown orders. In addition, the Stay-at-Home
order will continue to apply at least until February 22. The Government of
Ontario announced that it will gradually transition regions from shut down
measures to the colour-coded Keeping Ontario Safe and Open COVID-19
response framework. No timeline has yet been announced for Markham’s transition
nor do we know under which colour designation we will emerge.
The OHF and OMHA have been monitoring the situation and have approved the extension of the current season to May 31, 2021 dependent on each association’s ability to retain volunteers and available ice.
The Waxers have been monitoring the situation and planning for return to hockey under a variety of programming structures dependent on the stage under which we return and the City of Markham’s commitment to open arenas.
When the province went into lockdown, the City of Markham opted to remove the ice from all arenas except Centennial and one pad each at Angus Glen and Thornhill. As you know, we were running our program with fewer than our usual hours of ice given that Milliken Mills remained closed. During the first part of the year, we were able to offer two hours of ice to every participant throughout our program from house league through AAA. When we went into the Red Control zone and further limitations were placed on the number of people allowed both on the ice and in an arena, we continued to offer programming at one hour of ice for all players.
What programming we can offer when we come out of the lockdown is dependent on the ice available to us. We urge each of you to contact both your regional and ward councillor and let them know that you want them to re-open the arenas as they were prior to the lockdown. We believe this is the only way we can return to the programming models in effect during the fall. Without a minimum of the ice we had prior to the lockdown, cuts in programming will need to be made. There simply won’t be enough hours at the two arenas open to us and shared with all other minor user groups.
It doesn't have to be a long, detailed email. Just let them know that you live in their ward and would like the City to re-open the arenas so that the Waxers can offer their programming. Below is a list of the regional and local councillors. If you are unsure which ward is yours, visit Markham.ca to find out.
Thank you for your continued patience as we navigate the provincial COVID-19 restrictions and the City’s management of arenas and the impact those have on our programming. We will update you as soon as we have any concrete information. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please email us.
Markham Councillors
Mayor Frank Scarpitti
905-475-4872
[email protected]
Deputy Mayor Don Hamilton
[email protected]
Regional Councillor Jack Heath
[email protected]
Regional Councillor Joe Li
[email protected]
Regional Councillor Jim Jones
[email protected]
Ward 1 Councillor Keith Irish
[email protected]
Ward 2 Councillor Alan Ho
[email protected]
Ward 3 Councillor Reid McAlpine
[email protected]
Ward 4 Councillor Karen Rea
[email protected]
Ward 5 Councillor Andrew Keyes
[email protected]
Ward 6 Councillor Amanda Yeung Collucci
[email protected]
Ward 7 Councillor Khalid Usman
[email protected]
Ward 8 Councillor Isa Lee
[email protected]