Quote:It was fascinating to listen in live on the discussions - certainly nice to see an aspect of government that is totally open.
Not only are the Committee Hearings webcast live, but any member of the public can attend and sit in the gallery to watch. Since Parliament Hill is practically across the street from my office, I skipped out of work to sit in on the hearing today. It was very interesting, and educational.
Alasdair Robertson was the first up, and since he represents CARS and our rallying interests, I thought his presentation was the most pertinent and I was very impressed in how he delivered it. He is extremely well spoken in the things he said, and evidently very politically-savvy in the things he chose not to say. My only complaint is I wish he had been the last to speak, as his stuff really was the most important.
Scott Ellsworth representing CASC-OR described the many aspects of sanctioned motorsport within Ontario ranging from on-track events, to autoslalom events, and even ice-racing. Judging from the raised eyebrows and comments from the committee members, it was clear that none of them had any idea how hugely popular grassroots parking lot slalom events are in Ontario.
Charlie Johnstone representing GP Assoc of Toronto and Champ Car's interests in Canada was mostly concerned about the definition of street racing including any 'public place", which would clearly include the public areas of the CNE grounds in Toronto where races are conducted on what would otherwise be open streets.
Robert Giannou's presentation on Targa Newfoundland, including power point slides, was by far the most impressive as it illustrated what an enormous fiscal benefit the event has been for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Each one of the witnesses stressed that our sanctioned events are organised, planned, and conducted according to stringent safety regulations, bylaws, and applicable laws, and according to the regulations imposed by our own sanctioning bodies.
After the presentations, each Senator on the committee had an opportunity to ask questions. That's when the fun started.
They immediately shot down the Champ Car and CASC-OR events as being not applicable since they are conducted on a closed course not accessible to the public. Therefore there would be no concern related to the street racing legislation. This despite Senator Joyal establishing yesterday that a shopping centre parking lot is most definitely a 'public place'. I suppose it would all come down to how effectively access to the lot was controlled to prevent the public from stumbling into a Solo event.
Similarly the 'racing' portion of Targa Nfld, and other CARS performance rallies, is conducted on closed road stages and therefore shouldn't be a concern. Alasdair raised a good point that the roads are not necessarily 'closed', but access is limited under the control of the event organizor for a length of time. I'm not sure whether the implications of that distinction were clearly understood by everyone.
Then things got a little murky as the example was raised again of how a hockey player using excessive force could still be charged with assault. He is not exempt from the law simply because he's taking part in an organised hockey game. Similarly, racers could still be charged with criminal negligence causing injury or death if the circumstances warranted it.
Each of the witnesses stressed the great pains taken to ensure that our events are conducted safely and according to the law. It was stressed that the Highway Traffic Act must be obeyed at all times and that anyone getting stopped for a ticket is automatically disqualified and excluded. One of the Senators asked if any participant had ever been charged with criminal negligence during an event. When the answer was no, the obvious next question was, so why are you so worried about this? How does it affect you?
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