“Ford made a mistake! He picked the wrong sport to cancel,” states Dwayne Cardoso.
Cardoso has been a Bradford resident for 25 years and an active skier and snowboarder for even longer. He and his family of five (his girlfriend and three young kids) were all taught how to ski and snowboard at an early age by Cardoso himself.
It is a pastime they all look forward to every winter… except this year when Premier Doug Ford made the announcement that ski hills were part of the list of lockdown closures.
Popular ski resorts like Snow Valley and Mount St. Louis Moonstone were open just two days before Ford’s announcement about the lockdown closures, shocking many avid skiers and snowboarders who were waiting for the hills to open so they could regain some kind of normalcy during the pandemic.
As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, residents are starting to feel like sardines squeezed into a tin can as the government continues to place restrictions on what you can, and cannot do. Ontario, Cardoso says, is the only province in North America to shut down ski hills during the pandemic.
“As soon as Doug Ford shut [the ski hills] down, I said ‘no’ and talked to a friend about what we could do to change this,” shares Cardoso.
Cardoso immediately began researching his facts on rates of transmission, number of cases at local hospitals and ski resorts outside of Ontario, and reached out to professionals to properly understand how COVID-19 works and the impact it would have on the ski and snowboard community.
“I reached out to anyone and everyone and got great support,” said Cardoso. “I didn’t want to be like ‘Adamson BBQ’… I wanted to present the points properly."
Cardoso gathered his facts and tried to be as "diplomatic" as possible before launching his first petition on change.org.
“I didn’t know how to start one," admits Cardoso. “But within the first 25 seconds of posting the petition, I had my first signature.”
Cardoso’s petition snowballed from there and after the first few hours, he had hundreds of signatures. In just a week, the petition now has more than 76,000 signatures, while the petition has been shared 34,000 times; it has been viewed over 600,000 times.
“It’s the only sport you’re completely covered head to toe," explained Cardoso, noting many people wear balaclavas among many other forms of facial protection from ski hill winds.
Cardoso argues that if Nathan Phillips Square is open and people are being encouraged to "pleasure skate" then why can’t ski hills be open, too?
Cardoso’s reasons for wanting the ski hills reopened go beyond the pleasures of the winter sport; he says snowboarding provides his family with an experience of calm, especially for his son Eli, 11, who has ASD (autism spectrum disorder).
“Snowboarding is a stress reliever for him,” explains Cardoso. “It’s a very peaceful sport where he can look at nature and board down the hill – it’s huge and beneficial! But only in the winter.”
Cardoso’s son is not the only one with a health issue that is benefited by exercise and outdoor activities; Cardoso himself is twice-immuno compromised and was at Mount Sinai Hospital this past summer battling sarcoidosis, a condition that left Cardoso with tumours in his lungs and lymph nodes. Cardoso also suffers from Type 1 Diabetes.
“I spent most of my summer at Mount Sinai where they basically shut my immune system off to help fight the disease,” notes Cardoso. “I was encouraged to start getting active again and that’s what I intend to do.”
Cardoso and his family own a condo in Mont Tremblant, Quebec where they are currently snowboarding at the Mont-Tremblant Ski Resort for the holidays. During their stay, Cardoso took images with his camera to show the safety protocols in place at the ski resort and the extra measures put into action to ensure skiers and snowboarders were safe.
“I’ve had overwhelming support since the petition launched,” sayss Cardoso, noting that he has had 10 times as many thank-yous as he has had private messages from those in opposition.
“It’s funny when someone opposes something that is great for physical and mental health, it’s usually because it’s something that’s affecting them personally, like ‘how dare you try to snowboard when I can’t go to the gym or visit my grandmother!’ It’s no longer a good argument in my opinion,” he said.
Cardoso notes that to date there are zero cases of COVID in connection to the Mont-Tremblant ski resort where they are currently visiting, and argues that the lines at the ski lifts are more than adequately spaced out between each skier with their skis and boards ensuring even more distance.
“Is Doug Ford ready to bail out these hills after he made them spend millions to upgrade the resorts to be COVID safe and gave them the green light?” argues Cardoso who has sent many tweets to Ford since the petition began.
“For me, this is all-around mental health. My son (who is autistic) can ride his board and… is calm and relaxed and finally in his happy place. It’s only four months a year and for the rest of the year, I have no safe, happy place," he said.
Cardoso worries if the lockdown goes beyond the 28 days that ski resorts will not be able to stay afloat.
Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture plan to meet with downhill ski operators from the Ontario Snow Resorts Association (OSRA) this week.
