Toronto flip-flops on decision to bar teen sports shooters from Ontario Games event

Jake Edmiston  Jul 23, 2012 – 6:58 PM ET | Last Updated: Jul 23, 2012 7:07 PM ETChris Baldwin, 18, who's scheduled to compete as a sport shooter at the Ontario Summer Games in Toronto next month.

Bowing to criticism from the sports community on Monday, City of Toronto staff reversed a decision that barred two teen sport shooting champions from speaking at an Ontario Summer Games ceremony.
In the wake of the Scarborough shooting last week, organizers thought it best that national sporting rifle champions Chris Baldwin, 18, and Sabrina Sergeant, 17 be prevented from speaking at a youth promotion event in Toronto on Wednesday ahead of the Ontario Summer Games, which take place in August.

“This is unfortunately something that has been handed down to us out of our control and we deeply apologize,” read an email sent to the two athletes last Tuesday — a day after the Danzig Avenue block party shooting that killed two and injured two dozens others.

Upon further reflection, and discussion with the Games Organizing Committee, the City of Toronto regrets the decision

“We realize that gun violence has nothing to do with the sport of Sporting Rifle or any of your Athletes and that your sport promotes the safe and responsible use of rifles.”
City spokesperson Deborah Blackstone said the decision was made “due to the very young audience expected to participate” at Wednesday’s event, that will see over 200 summer camps try out the various sports associated with the Summer Games.
This week, the Canadian Shooting Sports Association released a statement condemning the decision.
“These teens are very disciplined and have refined their craft over many years, and now some faceless anti-gun bureaucrats are associating them with drug dealing, gang member criminals,” said John Evers, who runs the London-area sportsmen’s association that produced both Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Sergeant.
Mr. Baldwin, who’s won a total of six gold medals at previous Summer Games, said he received a call from organizers on Monday afternoon informing him that he’d receive his three minutes of speaking time on Wednesday after all. The city’s change of heart came after the National Post publicized the ban on the two athletes in a column by Matt Gurney on its web site on Monday.
Mr. Baldwin took the city’s flip-flop in stride.
“The message I will be giving the people in the room isn’t going to change,” said the teen, who began shooting at age eight. “As an athlete ambassador, I can’t go and rant for three minutes about the stupidity of the decision that was made earlier. I’m going to talk about the importance of the Summer Games for my sport.”
City staff were unavailable for comment Monday and the statement from the City of Toronto was unclear on who exactly gave the directive to stop the athletes from speaking, and then changed their mind.
“Upon further reflection, and discussion with the Games Organizing Committee, the City of Toronto regrets the decision,” wrote Ms. Blackstone in an email to the National Post.
National Post
With files from Matt Gurney

Find below the text of the email sent by an employee of the City of Toronto last week:
RE: Athlete Ambassador Appearances
Sent: Jul 17, 2012 3:31 PM
Unfortunately due to the untimely shootings that have taken place in Scarborough and the City recently, we have received a directive that we can no longer have the Sporting Rifle Athlete Ambassadors present on stage at the World Record Camp Games event.
This is unfortunately something that has been handed down to us out of our control and we deeply apologize. We realize that gun violence has nothing to do with the sport of Sporting Rifle or any of your Athletes and that your sport promotes the safe and responsible use of rifles.
We appreciate your understanding of this matter and apologize to both the CSSA and your Athlete Ambassadors sincerely.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Toronto time on Monday, the city of Toronto sent this statement to the editors of the National Post:
In follow up to Matt Gurney’s article, we wanted to provide you with the following information:
Upon further reflection, and discussion with the Games Organizing Committee, the City of Toronto regrets the decision that was communicated to the Canadian Shooting Sports Association and supports the participation of all athlete ambassadors in the on stage welcoming ceremony of the World Record Camp Games. The athlete ambassadors representing the sport shooting have been invited to participate in the welcoming ceremony at the World Record Camp Games.
The City of Toronto very much values the participation of all Ontario Summer Games athlete ambassadors in the World Record Camp Games event and looks forward to hosting all athletes representing all 28 sporting events at the 2012 Ontario Summer Games.