2020 Skate Canada International has been cancelled

[coppertop1]

lame. canada will be the only country that cancels their grand prix event. why not hold the event without spectators, put up some plexiglass, enforce masks, and call it a day? it's not as if they're on lockdown up there.

You're right. Over 200,000 dead is much better, right?

 

[Sylvia]

Nam Nguyen was quoted in Nick McCarvel's article yesterday:

Skate Canada, figure skating Grand Prix for 2020/21, is cancelled due to COVID-19

How will this impact the rest of the Grand Prix Series? The season is reduced to 5 events after officials decided it was unsafe in Ottawa to proceed with Skate Canada.

www.olympicchannel.com

He told Olympic Channel the athletes knew cancellation was a possibility, but that it was still disappointing.
"We knew there was a possibility that it would be cancelled," he said. "It’s obviously for everyone’s best interest and safety. That’s the first priority. I’m glad that they made the right decision and cancelled the event."
Nguyen, who added two-time Olympic silver medallist Elvis Stojko to his day-to-day team this summer, said he would not take time away from the training rink, however. He did so earlier this year when the world championships were cancelled and had a hard time finding his rhythm again.
"We’re using this time and opportunity to push ourselves, push our boundaries," he said. "We’re still developing power and my skating skills, really. We’ve taken these last few months to really bump that up. If there is an opportunity to show (my progress) to everyone this season, I sure hope so. (Right now) is about keeping your head straight and keep pushing."

 

[Rebecca Moose]

You're right. Over 200,000 dead is much better, right?

false equivalence much? get a grip.

the skaters are still training, life still has to go on...

 

[Lil Sarah]

lame. canada will be the only country that cancels their grand prix event. why not hold the event without spectators, put up some plexiglass, enforce masks, and call it a day? it's not as if they're on lockdown up there.

Skate Canada was supposed to be in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. Currently Ottawa, Toronto & Peel regions are only allowed to have 10 people inside of a rec centre / gym / arena etc., for programming (for about 20 more days at least). Makes it pretty impossible to run.

 

[Natanielle825]

did they consider doing something like virtual ISP challenge?

 

[Sylvia]

did they consider doing something like virtual ISP challenge?

That's the current plan for Skate Canada Challenge: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ying-season-announcement.107562/#post-5874269

 

[vesperholly]

I wonder if they considered moving it to a rink outside of the cities? It's not like they need an arena for fans ...

 

[Orm Irian]

I wonder if they considered moving it to a rink outside of the cities? It's not like they need an arena for fans ...

Clearly they didn't. Probably because, from what I understand, residents of hotspots Toronto and Montreal - the two cities the majority of the skaters would be coming from, and possibly the majority of the officials as well - have been very strongly advised not to travel outside of their cities so they don't risk taking the lurgi to areas where it's not running rampant yet.

Risk to the host community has to be considered along with risk to the skaters, officials, rink personnel and camera crew.

 

[Aceon6]

^This.

”Can we do this without jumping through hoops and losing our shirts?” is becoming the operative question. In this case, the answer was no.

 

[coppertop1]

false equivalence much? get a grip.

the skaters are still training, life still has to go on

Life is going on. But in Canada, we have common sense and don't believe in putting people at risk unnecessarily.

 

[missing]

Life is going on. But in Canada, we have common sense and don't believe in putting people at risk unnecessarily.

Tell that to the 69 people in Hamilton who are positive because of a spin class.

As of the moment, CV19 is smarter than we are. With any luck and a lot of science, it won't stay that way.

 

[fan]

Montreal is currently a red zone and patrols who is leaving. All in all, not a great way to start a competition

 

[Parsley Sage]

Tell that to the 69 people in Hamilton who are positive because of a spin class.

As of the moment, CV19 is smarter than we are. With any luck and a lot of science, it won't stay that way.

It's over 70 now. Not all of them are in Hamilton due to contact with people.

The closest site I think they could have moved the event would be Kingston but even an event with no spectators wouldn't be easy to move on short notice. With the event in Ottawa, I'm sure a lot of the roles normally filled by volunteers were going to be filled by Skate Canada staff who work in the Ottawa office. Moving it would require additional accommodations for the staff or finding volunteers to fill the roles needed.

 

[coppertop1]

Tell that to the 69 people in Hamilton who are positive because of a spin class.

As of the moment, CV19 is smarter than we are. With any luck and a lot of science, it won't stay that way.

I would never say we don't have covidiots here. We do.

 

[MsZem]

Tell that to the 69 people in Hamilton who are positive because of a spin class.

As of the moment, CV19 is smarter than we are. With any luck and a lot of science, it won't stay that way.

My understanding is that they took reasonable precautions in terms of distancing (and disinfecting, a waste of time) but spin class, like other indoor aerobic activities, requires more stringent measures.

 

[tony]

I don't disagree with Canada shutting down the competition, but seeing how rapidly the numbers are rising in so many places-- including Canada, sorry about it, there's no point in saying 'well we care more than this place does'. All it takes is one person. Parts of Europe are going back to curfews and lockdowns- Israel and Spain are seeing have seen (edited based on post below) huge rises in numbers.

Point being, people are absolutely getting bored and/or more daring in terms of what they consider to be 'taking precautions', and Canada isn't excluded. I'll repeat the stat I figured out: as of the other day, 8% of the total cases for the country came within that previous 7 days.

 

[MsZem]

I don't disagree with Canada shutting down the competition, but seeing how rapidly the numbers are rising in so many places-- including Canada, sorry about it, there's no point in saying 'well we care more than this place does'. All it takes is one person. Parts of Europe are going back to curfews and lockdowns- Israel and Spain are seeing huge rises in numbers.

OT, but Israel is seeing improving numbers and is moving to ease restrictions. I posted about it yesterday in the news and experiences thread.

 

[skatfan]

Montreal is currently a red zone and patrols who is leaving. All in all, not a great way to start a competition

 

[Lana K]

Montreal is currently a red zone and patrols who is leaving. All in all, not a great way to start a competition

Some people are being pulled over by the police and asked where they are headed, but no one is forbidden from leaving the island of Montreal. Not yet, anyway.

 

[marbri]

Anyway paying attention knew there would be a second wave in the fall. It's not surprising to me it's starting earlier in places like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal versus other places in Canada. I know, for instance, in NL if you are coming from provinces outside Atlantic Canada you are required to quarantine for 14 days. I understand that to be the case for Manitoba as well. In Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto you were only required to quarantine if you were coming from outside the country.

So it's very complicated and probably not worth the headache or the expense (since no ticket sales) to try to find a place for a bunch of skaters from red zones to show their programs.

 

[skategal]

Anyway paying attention knew there would be a second wave in the fall. It's not surprising to me it's starting earlier in places like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal versus other places in Canada. I know, for instance, in NL if you are coming from provinces outside Atlantic Canada you are required to quarantine for 14 days. I understand that to be the case for Manitoba as well. In Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto you were only required to quarantine if you were coming from outside the country.

So it's very complicated and probably not worth the headache or the expense (since no ticket sales) to try to find a place for a bunch of skaters from red zones to show their programs.

Same rules for N.S., NB and PEI also.

Mandatory 14 day quarantine if travelling there from outside the Atlantic bubble.

The mandatory 14 day quarantine has been in place since March but the 4 Atlantic provinces started letting each other’s residents move freely within the bubble without quarantine in July.

 

[Wyliefan]

Speaking of Canada, what's this? I can't get the link to come up. https://twitter.com/TedBarton7/status/1317280247142785024?s=19

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Autumn Leaves - I've been posting about it in the Kiss & Cry section (skatinginbc via Dailymotion has livestreaming & on demand videos).

 

[Wyliefan]

^^^ Autumn Leaves - I've been posting about in the Kiss & Cry section.

Thank you! Because the video wasn't coming up for me, I couldn't get the competition title, so I couldn't search.

 

[Frau Muller]

Frankly I can't believe anyone thought any of these would happen. Another *********-19 casualty.

So is this the first of the Grand Prix events to fall, beside the GP Finals? Bummer. Fingers crossed that Skate America happens...just one week to go for that.

 

[AxelAnnie]

So is this the first of the Grand Prix events to fall, beside the GP Finals? Bummer. Fingers crossed that Skate America happens...just one week to go for that.

I think they will all go down. At the end of the day there is too much liability. And each that goes down weakens the rest. Frankly I don't get what the point is.

 

[Aceon6]

Ok, it’s time to cancel my flights. AC already cancelled the outbound leg, but I’m stuck with the return flights as the US doesn’t prevent its citizens from coming in.

Any guesses where Skate Canada will be in 2021? I’m pretty sure older people will be able to get a vaccine by then.

 

[Kasey]

false equivalence much? get a grip.

the skaters are still training, life still has to go on...

I think most people here are fully gripped. Congratulations on using big terms like "false equivalence", even if you didn't do so correctly. You are the one who needs to get a grip. You are coming across as a petulant child trying to argue with the grownups.

 

[Vash01]

Disappointing but a wise decision.

 

[jenny12]

Disappointing but at the end of the day, safety is more important than anything else. Oh well, it will make it all the more special whenever we can have the Grand Prix and other skating events again.