Toronto Maple Leafs Ban the Non-Vaccinated From Games

You can complain about the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff performance, but it’d be hard to find anything to dislike about the news release the team’s parent company released this morning.

Starting September 22nd, anyone attending a Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Argos or soccer game must be fully vaccinated.

This is a move to be applauded, because it’s a tough choice for any business to shut-out potential customers, but the unvaccinated have caused the fourth wave and steps like this have become necessary.

MLSE could have chosen profits over their community but they didn’t, and it’s an admirable choice.

Toronto Maple Leafs Make the Right Decision

The Toronto Maple Leafs parent company, MLSE, has made the right decision and hopefully this starts a trend with all 31 other NHL buildings following suit.

Although some fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs most likely will be upset at this policy,  it has become a medical necessity that goes far beyond political opinions.  If the last year has taught us anything, it is that proactive public health measures are not only effective, but they are better than being forced to shutdown everything after the fact.

If it has shown us anything else, it is that we can’t tailor public health policy to keep our most angry and least informed citizens appeased.

The fact is, this will be an extremely popular decision among most people (75% of Canadians at least “somewhat” support mandatory vaccination) though it will seem divisive because of the people who live 100% on-line spewing rage will be against it, and they always seem far more representative than they are.

Perhaps this is a good lesson in how the internet works: people who feel angry and negative about something are much more likely to go online and talk about it.  In contrast 75% of Canadians support moves like this.

The Toronto Maple Leafs (and MLSE) don’t always make the best decisions, but they are choosing the health of their fans and the people who live in the city where they play over their bank accounts, and that is something always worth praising.  Good for them.

Now let’s hope some of this karma rubs off on the team and they can give us a season to remember (for the right reasons this time).  I still firmly believe that this team can win their division, the President’s Trophy and the Stanley Cup.