The leader of the Yukon Party, Currie Dixon, has issued a press release calling on the government to reopen sports in the Yukon.

In the release, Dixon states that “it is perplexing that the Yukon government has decided to adopt an approach to team sports that is so unworkable that most organizations have thrown in the proverbial towel. The current restrictions are complex, inconsistent, and frankly unreasonable.”

Dixon goes on to point out some of the inconsistencies in the governments policy, using the rules at the Canada Games Centre for swimming and the wellness centre as an example.

Dixon concludes the release by stating, “I am urging the premier and his government to reconsider their current approach to public health restrictions as they apply to sports and recreation. If not for all Yukoners, then at least begin with the youth.

“Sports, recreation, and physical activity are way too important in our fight against the mental health challenges wrought by the last two years to leave our youth on the bench.”

The Star interviewed Dixon to clarify his views on the press release.

“I’ve issued this open letter to the premier. Essentially what I’m asking is for the Liberal Government to reconsider their approach to public health restrictions on sports and recreation. As folks in the sporting community know, the public health restrictions were changed relatively recently and the result of those, whether it was intentional or not, has been essentially, effectively, to shut down all team sports. And that is, in my view, extremely unfortunate and counter- productive. I think the starting point for that discussion needs to be the profound benefits that physical activity and participation in sports and recreation provide for our minds and our bodies and at a time when so many Yukoners are facing profound challenges with mental health, cutting off access to organized sports and recreation is the wrong way to go about it. I appreciate the need for public health restrictions to deal with COVID, but at the same time, I think a more thoughtful approach needs to be taken to ensure the benefits of sports and recreation can be maximized while also doing so safely.”

Dixon has heard from a lot of his constituents.

“I’ve heard from all kinds of organizations, right from high-competitive level athletes who want to train for their respective sports to the seniors at the Golden Age Society they’ve had their yoga classes cancelled. And everything in-between.”

Dixon explains the effect this has had on people who play sports.

“Sports and recreation has been one of the few things that a lot of people can look forward to in terms of their physical activity, their mental health, their social interactions. This is a time in the world when social interactions are much more restricted than they have been, and for a lot of people, the organized team sports or recreational activities is a great way to either get outside, get active, and engage with people and in a safe way. And losing that opportunity has had a real negative effect on people’s mental health, their physical health, and I think that’s counter-productive to the overall goals of keeping our population healthy.”

Dixon says the restriction of two households of up to 10 people has made it very difficult for people to play almost any sports.

“That’s the part of it that people find galling. They (YG) don’t admit that they’re actually shutting down organized sports. They say ‘oh no, you can still do it, just with two households to a maximum of 10 people. I don’t know of any organized team sport that can operate under those parameters. So they are effectively shutting things down, so it is difficult for a lot of people to understand.

“I think the communications on this has been very poor as well. A lot of the groups were promised a technical briefing by the minster of health a few weeks ago, and when they finally got it last week, every group I talked to left with more questions than they came in with. The lack of the government’s ability to explain why they put those restrictions in place and why they make sense, when there’s such glaring inconsistencies between public recreation with organized recreation, makes it very difficult for people to understand and get behind. So people are frustrated and I think a change in approach is needed from this liberal government,” added Dixon.

Dixon explains what he would like to see the government do about these restrictions.

“I’d like them to lighten the restrictions on organized sports. I think first of all, they need to talk to the groups and understand what the situation is from the perspective of the sports organizations themselves ... I don’t have the answer when it comes to what health restrictions should look like, but I do know they aren’t doing a good enough job of recognizing the importance of physical activity, sports and recreation right now.”

As for when he would like to see the restrictions lifted, “Absolutely immediately ... sports have been shut down now a number of weeks. Last week or recently the chief medical officer of health has indicated that these restrictions could be in place another one or two months, so that’s really disheartening for a lot of athletes, a lot of people who like to get physically active ... even if they can only start somewhere, I encourage them to start with youth, because I think this is particularly damaging for young people who have viewed sports and recreation as one of their few outlets for physical activity in these difficult times.”

Asked if he would favour going back to the previous restriction, Dixon replied, “That would be a good first step. When you think about it, we’re more restrictive on sports than we were before we had vaccines. So it’s difficult for people to understand. Ultimately, I just want sports and recreation to be able to flourish and people to be able to participate in those sports and recreational activities because I recognize and appreciate the significant benefits that come from physical activity and in a time when so many of us are facing challenging mental health situations. We’re in some of the darkest days of the year. Sports and recreation offers so much potential benefit for Yukoners and I really think we’re missing out on having that as an outlet.”

The Yukon Government has been contacted for a reaction to the press release, but has yet to respond with a comment.