Confusion swirls over city's hockey, tobogganing crackdown

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As the city’s struggle against unsanctioned hockey and tobogganing continues, residents are being left in the cold over what they are — and aren’t — allowed to do outside this winter.

Requesting to remain anonymous, a Toronto Sun reader who tried to take his kids for an afternoon of sledding at Earl Bales Park was left scratching his head over what he described as conflicting messages from city officials.

“We couldn’t understand what the issue was,” he said.

Arriving at the North York park Sunday afternoon, he encountered yellow tape blocking off the top of the hill.

“We talked to a city worker and bylaw officer who told us we could sled the bottom-third of the hill, as long as we kept below the yellow tape,” he said.

Confident he’d been given permission to use the hill, they hiked down past the yellow tape — spotting a marked Toronto Police cruiser at the bottom.

“The officer kept yelling at us on the megaphone that we were too high up,” he said, adding anybody, adult or child, who ventured within 30 feet of the tape got yelled at over the cruiser’s public address speaker.

“He was there for a good three hours, at least,” he said.

“At first I thought he was there to enforce social distancing, but there was nothing about that.

“There was this imaginary line we shouldn’t cross, and that’s it.”

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A parent who approached the officer was told “he was basically doing them a favour and that they shouldn’t even be there.”

On Monday, Emergency Management Chief Matthew Pegg reiterated the city’s crackdown on those who choose to recreate outside the bounds of the law.

In late November, the city re-opened outdoor rinks with strict rules — a 25-skater limit between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., and skaters must book ahead.

All other uses of outdoor ice, including shinny, are prohibited.

Tobogganing is only permitted at 23 sanctioned runs — ski and snowboarding hills are off-limits.

Last week, Pegg said paid-duty police officers would be used to enforce these rules alongside city enforcement teams.

Since Dec. 30, 20 charges over illegal gatherings on private property were laid, Pegg said — including places of worship and private residences.

While the city charged 19 hockey players with trespassing between Dec. 23 and Dec. 30, city spokesperson Brad Ross told the Sun only warnings were handed out over the weekend.

Ross said ski hills are closed by provincial order, so tobogganing should not have been permitted on any portion of the hill and has reached out to city staff about the issue.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume