St. John's reviewing policy on winter sliding

St. John's is reviewing its policy of allowing sliding on city hills, but Mayor Dennis O'Keefe said he personally does not want to see slidingbanned.

Several Canadian cities have takes the controversial step of banning or restrictingwinter slidingin municipalareas.

At the centre of the bans are issues ofliability, with councils worried aboutbeing held accountableif someone is hurt while sliding on city property.

Hamilton, Ontario has banned tobogganing on all municipalproperty, Ottawa has put bylaws in place to allow sliding only on designated hills and in Toronto, sliding in some areas could result in a hefty fine.

• Sliding hill risks: Ontario cities struggle with liability

Municipal review

St. John's Mayor Dennis O'Keefesaid he understands why so many people are upset about banning sliding.

"I would hate to see the day when you can't slide or you can't walk or you can't run or you can't swing or you can't get on a chutey-chute because of insurance risk," he said.

He said while the council is reviewing its policy on sliding, he would personally like to see the activity continue unrestricted.

"We have no intent, if at allpossible, to ban sliding on city property," he said.

"We are reviewing the whole issue with a perspective of continuing the tradition of allowing kids to exercise and get out and enjoy the winter, and at the same time ensure that there's no liability risk to the city as a result."

Slippery slope

In the meantime, the thought of banning sliding is not going over well on the snowy hills of St. John's.

Children in the cityare hopeful that councilwon't adopt a winter ban on sliding, the way some other cities in the country have.

CBC's Caroline Hillier askedkids at a popular sliding spot on Friday inPippyPark what they thought of the ban.

• Hear local kidsreact tonews that other cities in Canada have banned sliding.

"What?? That's wrong. That's not fair," said one young slider."Not really fair. I think you should have fun."