Retired NHLer Steve McKenna joined with MPP Belinda Karahalios to call on the Ontario government

Retired NHLer Steve McKenna joined with MPP Belinda Karahalios to call on the Ontario government to remove proof-of-vaccination mandate that exclude some kids from playing sports.

“I can’t enter the very arena where my jersey hangs on the wall,” the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame inductee told some parents and their children at the Com Dev Indoor Soccer Park this weekend.

"It broke my heart when I had to ask the Minister of Sport and the Deputy City Manager of Cambridge to have my jersey removed from the arena because our family can't support a facility that is not accessible to all families."

Karahalios called on the province exempt parents from vaccine restrictions implemented last month.

“The PC government is creating division and hostility by not allowing parents and guardians, who do not feel comfortable with disclosing their vaccination status, from entering facilities with their children for the purpose of participating in youth sports,” she said. Karahalios was removed from the PC party in July 2020.

The MPP said she's been supported by parents across Ontario who are upset with the requirement, many of whom are fully vaccinated and still don’t agree with the mandate.

“We know (the vaccine) works, we know that it helps the severity,” she said, "but it’s unfair to force it on people in this way."