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Page 10, Terrace Bay-Schrelber News, Wednesday, January 21, 19867 Initiatives announced to improve sports safety TORONTO -- An allocation of $1.4 million, announced today by the Honourable John Eakins, Ontario Minister of Tourism and Recreation, will be used toward a program design- ed to reduce injuries in sports and fitness. A number of initiatives will be car- ried out over the next 15 months and will be supported with amendments to the Ministry of Tourism and Recrea- tion Act. The amendments will empower the Minister of Tourism and Recreation to act in the public interest on safety mat- ters in sports and fitness, and permit the Minister to intervene, if necessary, to prohibit the use of an unsafe sport. or fitness facility, or to order an amateur sport or fitness association to cease unsafe activities. _ The amendments and the program initiatives are in response to public con- cern about the increasing number of in- juries resulting from participation in amateur sports and fitness programs. A number of safety priorities were identified by the Ministry and the Sports Medicine and Sport Safety Ad- visory Board. Part of the new program will specifically address the safety issue in amateur hockey. The Ministry will work with the Hockey. Development Centre for Ontario to create a single governing body for the sport aimed at providing uniformity in policy, coaching and instructional programs at a provincial level. Other steps involving amateur hockey include imporvements in the recruitment, training and supervision of hockey referees, and providing arenas with breakaway hockey nets on a cost-shared basis. Efforts will also be directed toward revitalizing a hockey training program emphasizing the prevention of injury and ensuring proper care through skill- ed team trainers and therapists. A standard education and training program will be developed for trainers, coaches and therapists in all amateur sports, supported by specific cost- shared grants for training clinics. The Ministry has also moved to make improvements in the fitness in- dustry, which will include establishing safety standards for operations, maintenance and equipment, and stan- dards for the training and job qualifica- tions of professional fitness employees. As well, the Ministry will be soliciting corporate sponsors to participate in a new public awareness campaign aim- ed at creating safer sport and fitness across the province. The Ministry's overall sports and fitness safety program will also be ex- panded in 1987-88 to develop a research data base on injury and its prevention in sports and fitness. Sports identified as having a history of preven- table injuries will have grants programs made available to ensure future safety for participants. '*Participation in amateur sports and fitness by Ontarians is increasing rapid- ly." said Eakins. "My aim is to make sure that the enthusiasm continues with safety and injury prevention a top priority."' How not to get fit Once and for all we'd like to clear up a few misconceptions about fitness. None of the following ap- proaches represents a sensible way to get fit: 1. The "drive yourself til you 'drop" approach. 2. The "more it hurts the more it works" approach. 3. The "make up in an hour for what it took you ten years to lose" approach. I The plain fact is that exercise | does not have to hurt before it is doing you some good. Real gains start long before you reach the pain barrier. If you want to get fit, you have to get active. Do it...but don't overdo it. This is the sensible approach to fitness. And it works. Can you get fit without struggle, without strain, without pain? AND HOW! RENT REVIEW UPDATE FROM THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING Important message to tenants and landlords of rental units first occupied after 1975. The Residential Rent Regulation Act, 1986, extends the protection of rent review to cover all tenants in private rental units in Ontario. This includes buildings, mobile homes and mobile home sites first occupied as rental units after 1975. Landlords of post-'75 units n the past, tenants living in units which first Tenants in post-'75 units: came on the market after 1975 -- post-'75 ot units -- were not protected by rent review. obtaining a rent rebate. Under the new legislation, tenants living in post-'75 units are now protected by rent review along with all other tenants in private rental units in Ontario. As well, the provisions extending rent review to cover post-'75 units are retroactive to August 1, 1985. This means that the four per cent Guideline which was in place from August 1, 1985, to December 31, 1986, applied to post-75 units during this period. Thus, landlords who charged tenants of post-'75 units more than the four per cent Guideline during 'his period must now justify those rent increases or refund to tenants the difference between four per cent and the higher amount charged. Tenants in post-'75 units: do not make immediate deductions from your rent. For the present, tenants living in post-'75 units should pay the amount requested in the notice by their landlord until the matter is resolved through rent review. Under no circumstances should tenants make immediate deductions from their rent cheques because an illegal deduction could lead to eviction by the Courts. For more information, call toll-free 1-800-387-9060, or phone your local Rent Review Office: METROPOLITAN TORONTO City of Toronto (416) 964-8281 Barrie (705) 737-2111 Hamilton (416) 528-8701 Kingston (613) 548-6770 Kitchener ~-- (519) 579-5790 London (519) 673-1660 Mississauga (416) 270-3280 North Bay (705) 476-1231 Oshawa (416) 723-8135 e If the landlord of a post-'75 unit has not made an application to rent review by March 2, 1987, the tenant is entitled to a rebate of rents paid above the 4 per cent Guideline between August 1, 1985, and December 31, 1986. e If the landlord does not voluntarily pay the tenant thé rebate owing, the tenant is advised to file an application with the local Rent Review Office for an order requiring the land- lord to pay the rebate. e If the tenant is certain of the amount of the rebate, the tenant may deduct the amount from ~ arent cheque. Requirements for landlords of post-'75 units. e Landlords who have charged tenants more than the 4 per cent Guideline from August 1, 1985, to December 31, 1986, have until March 2, 1987, to apply to rent review to justify these rent increases. e To apply, a landlord must file an application form and supporting information with the local Rent Review Office, showing that the rent increases were justified. e Landlords who apply to justify these rent increases must give a copy of their application to all of their tenants within 10 days of apply- ing. Tenants are entitled to examine all the materials filed and to make submissions to the local Rent Review Office. e Landlords who do not apply to rent review on or before March 2, 1987, must rebate excess rents charged to tenants between August 1, 1985, and December 31, 1986. Ottawa Owen Sound (613) 230-5114 (519) 376-3202 Peterborough (705) 743-9511 East York (416) 429-0664 St.Catharines (416) 684-6562 Etobicoke Sudbury (705) 675-4373 and York (416) 236-2681 Thunder Bay (807) 475-1595 North York (416) 224-7643 Timmins (705) 264-9555 Scarborough = (416) 438-3452 Windsor (519) 253-3532 who have already served notice of a rent increase above the 1987 Guideline: Under the new legislation, the Rent Review Guideline for the year 1987 is 5.2 per cent. Some landlords of post-'75 units have already served tenants with notice of a rent increase effective on or after January 1, 1987, which exceeds the 5.2 per cent Guideline. These landlords also have until March 2, 1987, to apply to rent review for approval of a 1987 rent increase above the 5.2 per cent Guideline. If the landlord applies to rent review, tenants will receive a copy of the application and be given a full opportunity to participate in the rent review process. If the landlord does not apply to rent review and the time period for doing so expires, the landlord must rebate the difference between 5.2 per cent and the higher amount charged during 1987. : Ontario Hon. Alvin Curling, Minister Ministry of Housing