(Image: The Commissioner, Gilles Courteau, and Minister Courchesne)

MONTREAL, March 28, 2008.– The Minister of l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport et ministre de la Famille, Mme Michelle Courchesne and the Commissioner of the Quebec Junior Major Hockey League (QJMHL), Mr. Gilles Courteau, introduce measures aimed at stopping violence in hockey.

Minister Courchesne thanked the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Hockey-Québec for their excellent collaboration in this matter and their commitment to stop violence in amateur hockey in Quebec.

Minister Courchesne has requested that the QMJHL and Hockey-Québec submit for approval, before the end of June, a by-law proposal aimed at stopping acts of violence in hockey. “I am intervening, in accordance to the powers bestowed upon me by the Sports Safety Act, to implement these measures by the next season, ” indicates Minister Courchesne.

“We decided to quickly take action. Therefore, I communicated with my provincial and territorial counterparts to initiate talks on the question of fighting within hockey. I also asked that this matter be added to the agenda of the next meeting of the Ministers responsible for Sports slated for May, in Victoria, in order to implement measures to stop fighting in hockey in Canada. We want to make sure that athletes, trainers and managers act, in victory or in defeat, in a manner in which we can all be proud”, added Minister Courchesne.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League officially initiated, several months ago, a consultation process with its partners namely Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League, its governors and owners on the topic of regulating fighting within Canadian major junior hockey.

Over the past few years, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has proven its leadership on the national level by establishing a code of ethics, an antidoping policy, an anti-discrimination policy as well as an education policy. Today’s announcement shows the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s renewed commitment to provide the best environment and guidance for the development of its players.

“The question of the presence of fighting in professional and amateur hockey has been the object of many debates over the past few years,” says Mr. Gilles Courteau, the Commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. “Incidentally, this is a question the League has been closely studying throughout the 2007-2008 season. Although our statistics demonstrate that the fighting rate within our league has significantly decreased over the past five years, by supporting Minister Courchesne’s initiative, the QMJHL sets the tone in its ongoing consultation process with its partners. All of these joint efforts will enable us to make the best decision regarding regulating fighting in Canadian major junior hockey,” says Mr. Courteau.

“Violence within hockey extends far beyond the ice rink. It involves spectators, trainers, referees, youth and understandably, their parents. I intend to ask our partners’ collaboration to actively take part in this awareness movement. We have to do what we can in order for our youth to have a healthy concept of competition, a concept based on respect for their opponent, their discipline and the expression of their talent. We want hockey to a bona fide education tool,” concluded the Minister.

Source:

QMJHL - Karl Jahnke and MELS - Jean-Pascal Bernier

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