This has been 6 years in the making and has been sitting with the feds for 2 years. Hayashi knows full well that s83 may never be amended to allow for pro MMA.
Wow, does nobody in Ontario MMA have any connections?
This is the kind of thing that you get someone by the balls politically and compress them. (Get some good connections, build your war chest and let the games begin.) Align TV, Radio, Newspapers, politicians, martial arts assoc.
Hell, there is 6 retired Supreme Court judges in Ontario alone, who are active lawyers again.
What I'm trying to say is this will only get done imo by public groundswell backed up by heavies in the legal and communications industry.
"Is Hayashi suggesting that the other provinces are lawbreakers by
allowing MMA?"
Yeah. Hayashi has gone on record to say the other provinces are
breaking the law.
"I hear people tell me every day that they know someone who's looking
into having an event (off the reserves) in Ontario. Dream on. Honestly,
it kind of pisses me off because it distracts and hurts the ones that are
trying to make real progress through legitimate ways. Ontario has
mainly Hayashi to blame for MMA not being sanctioned by now, put it
also should point the finger back at itself for spewing a lot of talk and
rhetoric, but not having properly listened and done things the proper
way."
I guess this comment was directed towards me so I'll respond in kind.
The group I am referring to is making "real progress through legitimate
ways". What will really piss a lot of people who have been spinning
their wheels for years in attempting to do so is that this group will
likely succeed in holding sanctioned events in the province by year's
end.
This group has gone through the proper channels and is a few steps
away from getting the OK to hold an event in Ontario. Without going
into details (which will no doubt prompt Hayashi to attempt to
intervene and slow the process down although it will be out of his
hands) the events held by this group will be legally sanctioned and
insured professional events.
Although there are no guarantees in life, from the details I have, they
will likely succeed. Once the process is complete, there will likely be
events from at least one major US-based organization held here on a
regular basis. This organization has already begun talks with the
group.
Sorry if this pisses anyone off. it makes me happy to know that I might
be able to drive an hour or two to see legally sanctioned MMA.
I'll have details when the last phase is complete.
I am not saying that the $$$ will change Hayashi's mind. I am saying other will start to notice the possible revenue and Hayashi will be hard pressed to explain his position.
Mike, I want to believe but I've heard this so many times before. As soon as I read you say that this group is going outside the OAC I knew you're sources don't fully understand the way things work here in Ontario. Sorry, I don't mean to sound condescending to whomever these people are but they're obviously not talking to the anyone in the Ministry of Government Services or the Ministry of Health Promotions. Those are the two ministries that sanction professional and amateur sport respectively.
The gov't will never allow a second sanctioning body for professional sport. Any professional sport must be backed by provincial law. In Ontario, that law is called the Athletic Control Act. That law can only be modified by the Minister of Government Services or the Ontario Athletic Commissioner.
To change this law one would either have to get a MPP to sponsor a proposed bill. Or hold an event, get charged and try to beat it in court. Option 1 is highly unlikely because even if you got a MPP to sponsor the bill it takes forever to get that bill to the house and once again, MMA just isn't high on politician's list of things to do. Option 2 would take about $100,000 according to a criminal lawyer I once spoke to and the chances of success are minor because you'd essentially be arguing economic freedom which is most often frowned upon by the courts. Further, Hayashi unfortunately does have precedence with the 2000 court case referred to in this article.
I'm guessing this group you refer to are probably being given bad information and/or false hope by someone who hasn't done their research. I heard of a group from out East and from California looking into this in the summer time last year, but I'm not sure if those are the same people or not you're speaking with.