Don't drop Northern Ontario from the Brier!

NEWS RELEASE

TONY MARTIN, MP

****************************** Hurry hard Northerners! keep Northern Ontario at Brier

SUDBURY - It is an 84-year tradition at the iconic men’s Brier curling championship - a separate Northern Ontario team - and New Democrats want northerners to “hurry hard” to keep it that way.

Northern New Democrats today launched a campaign they are calling “Northern Ontario Rocks the Brier (Est. 1926)!”

They want all Northerners, including the estimated 10,000 who curl, to send a strong message not to mess with tradition as the tournament considers format changes that could add a Team Canada and possibly drop Team Northern Ontario.

Due to scheduling challenges with an odd number of teams, a few skips have suggested Ontario should have only one representative like other provinces.

“The national curling leadership got it right way back in 1926 recognizing the distinctness and vastness of Northern Ontario and that is the way it should stay,” said New Democrat Sports Critic, Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury). “There are six geographical regions across the north. Curling is so popular and it’s a marathon all-day drive for the Fort Frances, Kenora and northwest curlers just to compete in playdowns in North Bay and they are still in the north!”

The petition can be signed online or printed for signatures to be collected.

To find the petition, click here.

"The moose calls were deafening last year in Halifax for Brad Jacobs from the Sault as he reached the semi finals and we will be cheering for him to become the fifth Northern Ontario rink to win the Brier,” said Sault MP Tony Martin. “There are scheduling challenges to address but you can’t kick out a father of the curling confederation.”

There’s been annual chatter at the Brier about the unique two-rink Ontario representation but as three-time Brier champion Rick Lang of Thunder Bay said: "What makes the Brier one of Canada's great sporting events is the tremendous history and tradition...Northern Ontario has been a significant part of that tradition, both on and off the ice, for over eighty years"

“A Brier without Northern Ontario is crazy,” said Martin. “Curling is so popular here. Northern Ontario rocks the sport."

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