The grip that jiu-jitsu struggles to get rid of

The holding of competitions in several combat sports at the amateur level is permitted in the majority of Canadian provinces, but prohibited in Quebec. Why ? Today: jiu-jitsu.

Frederick Duchesneau
The Press

“We find it really ridiculous that this is not settled once and for all. We are not outlaws. »

Johnny Zemouli and the jiu-jitsu world he represents are growing impatient. Since 2017, no competition in the discipline can take place in the province.

In Ontario, events have resumed “full for a year,” he says, often organized by Quebecers, near the border, in Ottawa or Hawkesbury. Or in Plattsburgh, New York.

Until 2017, jiu-jitsu competitions were “tolerated” in Quebec, says Zemouli, no doubt because section 83 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which prohibits concerted fights, was under the radar of the authorities.

Then, that year, a complaint about the holding of an amateur event in another combat sport had a snowball effect. The SPVM was forced to note that non-Olympic combat sports competitions, including jiu-jitsu, could not be held under article 83, unless the provincial government had decreed their authorization. Elsewhere in the country, we have done it, but not in Quebec.

Genesis of five years of waiting

In 2013, the federal government amended section 83 of its Criminal Code. He first included the notion of exemption for Olympic sports, but added that each province could by decree legalize non-Olympic combat sports competitions on its territory. Ottawa’s intention is to “allow everyone to manage their space”, explained a senator to Johnny Zemouli.

In 2017, when the competitions had to stop, the PLQ was in power.

“He was not at all interested in the subject,” says Zemouli. Then, in 2018, the CAQ made it an election promise. So, we thought it was going to be settled quickly. »

A committee has been formed with the Sports, Recreation and Physical Activity Department, which reports to the Ministry of Education. Around the table were representatives of several combat sports.

The meetings went well, although they stretched over two years, notes Johnny Zemouli. Then the pandemic arrived and the file was put on the back burner.

“Then we learned that all the civil servants who were on file had left or gone to other administrations. It’s completely another team that manages that, and apparently the main avenue that had to be put in place, which was event permits, which required certain security specifications, would no longer be the main avenue, but one of the possible avenues. This is the last discussion I had in June with the Sports Department, says Zemouli. During the elections, they couldn’t do anything, but after the elections, they crossed their fingers that everything would be settled by the fall. »

Words already heard before the pandemic, he underlines, however.

“Those that it punishes the most in my opinion are the children”, launched Brianna Ste-Marie, in an interview with The Press a few weeks ago after finishing second in a prestigious competition.

Following this report on Ste-Marie, some parents of young jiu-jitsu enthusiasts wrote to us to deplore the ban on competitions in the province. Among others, a mother for whom “an archaic law” hinders the development of this “gentle art”.

At the communications department of the Ministry of Education, we were informed that “the reflections of the Government of Quebec on these questions are in progress”, including for jiu-jitsu.

But if it is not resolved by the end of the year, the management of the Quebec jiu-jitsu federation intends to take the next step, asking those affected to put pressure on their deputies.

“Four years later, five years since the illegality began, we find that our kindness has been taken for a little innocence in a way, in the truest sense of the word, believes Johnny Zemouli. They said to themselves: “They are on the file, they are helping us, there is no problem, so we will let it hang out.” »