BREAKING: Essential healthcare workers invited to Leafs’ game thanks to Brampton mayor

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Published May 31, 2021 at 9:49 am

More than 500 fully-vaccinated frontline healthcare workers are being allowed to attend tonight’s Toronto Maple Leafs NHL playoff game thanks to the efforts of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown.

It was less than 24 hours ago when Brown tweeted that he was starting a petition, asking the province to allow 2,500 vaccinated healthcare workers to attend game 7 of the Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens series.

After initially being turned down, the government did an about-face this morning, announcing 550 workers, including hospital and long-term care staff are being invited to attend the game at Scotiabank Arena.

“Thank you (Premier Doug Ford) for supporting our proposal,” Brown tweeted. “This is an awesome way to give the Leafs a boost and safely acknowledge our healthcare heroes.”

Ford said this is a small token of appreciation towards healthcare workers and with attendance well-below arena capacity, he doesn’t believe it will be high-risk.

“With precautionary measures in place like screening, masking, distancing, enhanced cleaning and crowd control, public health officials are confident we can put these special fans in the stands safely and with minimal risk,” said Ford in a release. “It also shows that the more of us who get vaccinated, the faster we can return to doing the things we miss.”

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is covering the costs associated with attendance at the game and Scotiabank is providing Leafs jerseys to everyone.

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