[ note - this article was written on Monday and posted here Tuesday morning, before the CEO and Board of Hockey Canada resignations were announced on Tuesday]
TRUTH HAS CONSEQUENCES
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 ~ column #7148
We played the youthful game, Truth or Consequences. Just words, just play, but then life comes along …
Our Canadian culture has many elements, and non-hockey players and non-fans probably don’t appreciate that it’s more than a sport; it’s a dream of every Canadian boy (and now girls too, who play hockey or ringette) to be able to play the game. Very few realize NHL dreams, but small-town culture and big-city arenas with kids on skates matter. Toddlers who barely stand on their skates, and Olympians who fly down the ice like a wind gust, are to be admired and appreciated by all Canadians – and for that, we need transparency. The legal implications, whether the RCMP can investigate, whether those officials and board members are culpable – are not up to you and me, but corporate sponsors have rightly distanced themselves from Hockey Canada. Government leaders have urged resignations, but somehow the Hockey Canada board is either protecting more secrets, protecting their wallets, or protecting themselves from prosecution.
I don’t care, they should all resign, and if they don’t, they should be closed down by those who have the power to shut them down.
It seems our government can’t. It seems the police can’t.
It seems corporate donors can’t.
I wonder if public opinion can shut them down.
Maybe we need a petition ~ where do I sign?
Whether we watch pop culture, politics, sports, or business – we see it daily. Lately, we’ve seen revelations around indigenous history obscured and now revealed. We see it as political fighting for party leaderships or in general elections as recorded past words and deeds are put on display for everyone to learn about.
Too often, the past is hidden, lied about, or admitted while diminishing its value; in some cases, turned back against those who reveal or question someone’s history as if they have no right to know, no right to speak and no right to call someone out …
Case in point – Hockey Canada; despite pressure from politicians, powerful statements by major corporate sponsors with a history of supporting youth and our national sport pulling their funding and endorsement agreements, the board of Hockey Canada has not got the message. They have continued in denial, stonewalling and keeping their board and senior executives in place even though their board chair resigned. Then their interim board chair resigned. They can’t seem to grip the reality that Canadians find their actions have been repugnant – not just paying off settlements to victims of assaults by hockey players (while player identities are secret – rather than having police investigate the crime); paying lawyers and funding settlements with funds squirrelled away in accounts set up to pay such settlements. Canadians find the actions of the organization and those who deny/defend/rationalize reprehensible.
Still, those folks keep control rather than stepping away.
You have to wonder, why?
My mind, cynically, goes to the question of what else they might be hiding.
Canadians want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Reader feedback:
Keep up the good work. Aging is not for the faint of heart, SB, Calgary, AB
Another great one!!! Yeah fir you, SF, Lethbridge, AB
Very touching, and thought provoking, Mark!, SF, Lethbridge, AB
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