NEWS:

A rally at Queen’s Park today of MMA supporters should remind Dalton McGuinty that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is one of the fastest growing sports in North America and he shouldn’t ignore the positive impact the sport could have on the Ontario economy.

But Dalton McGuinty has grown so out of touch, he has turned his back on the potential jobs and tourism benefits, to impose his own views on what types of sports we are permitted to watch. While Ontario fans flock to neighboring jurisdictions with their tourism dollars and pack sports pubs to watch matches, the Nanny Premier and his elite advisors are obsessed with protecting you from the menace of the plastic bag, saving the weeds on your lawn from pesticides and policing the kind of dog you own.

Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak has stated that, as Premier, he would have sanctioned MMA events by now to bring tourism dollars to the province.

QUOTES:

–Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

–Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

QUICK FACTS:

• Five other provinces and more than 40 states have sanctioned Mixed Martial Arts.

• According to a statement by the UFC, 42 percent of the spectators who attended the Montreal event (UFC 97) in April 2009 came from Ontario with an estimated $5 million of immediate economic impact to the city of Montreal.

• On February 18, 2010, Dalton McGuinty told reporters that the jobs and tourism spinoffs associated with bringing MMA events to Ontario “is just not a priority for us”.