As previously discussed, the now overhauled section 83 of the Criminal Code does not in and of itself make MMA legal across Canada, it allows Provinces to make it legal on a Province by Province basis. The default is the sport remains illegal. It requires Provincial regulation. This needs to happen for both professional and amateur contests. The landscape on the professional side is more mature. The amateur side, however, remains the biggest problem.
I previously highlighted issues on the amateur side in British Columbia, Calgary and Ontario. The latest fallout on the amateur side comes from the City of Grande Prairie.
Top MMA News reports that “all ammy fights have been cancelled for Xcessive Fighting Championship on September 3rd due to Bill S-209“.
This is not surprising since the Grand Prairie Combative Sports Bylaw falls short of the legislative mark to allow amateur MMA to be legal in the City. The legal breakdown is similar to the drilldown I provided for Calgary AMMA which you can find here.
The Bylaw does not give the commission the authority to regulate “Amateur Combative Sports Events“. Since Alberta presently chooses to regulate MMA, both professional and amateur, on a municipal level, local governments must pass clear legislation addressing the legality of each otherwise the sport remains illegal by default due to section 83 of the Criminal Code.
I’ve reached out to the Grande Prairie Combative Sports Commission for commentary on AMMA in their City and any plans to overhaul their bylaw to address this legal gap. I will update this post once they reply.
Combat Sports Law 