It starts at the CAP Arena. I’m standing there, up against the glass, watching the St. Paul Canadiens Peewee hockey team play their first game of a home tournament. I’m taking photos, taking note of what’s happening, when a collision occurs right in front of the glass. It’s a mild one – two 11- or 12-year-olds, both rushing for the puck – they collide innocently but firmly, falling down towards the ice. No one is hurt; we can see that right away. Our attention instead follows the puck as the play continues on. Still, though, it happened.
We’ll put a pin in that for a moment. There was bigger news this week – the G20 summit in Australia, for instance. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper found himself in the unfamiliar hue of the limelight during the event, thanks to an off-the-cuff comment to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was reported that, during a reluctant handshake, Harper told Putin flatly that he should “get out of Ukraine.” We don’t know much of Putin’s response, though the CBC has reported that Putin “did not respond positively.”
It’s tough to gauge this interaction based solely on text and hearsay. It’s tough to know what kinds of dynamics play out when so many prominent diplomats are asked to breathe the same air. I was, however, unsettled by these reports. I can’t help but feel like Harper’s words were misguided – like trying to start a fistfight by flicking someone in the ear; like dipping your toes into shark-infested waters, just to test the temperature. Again, it’s hard to tell. I wasn’t there.
Bill Cosby was also in the news this week due to a flare up of allegations of sexual assault – this in the wake of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, on the heels of the Parliament Hill accusations, on the coattails of the Ray Rice incident. And though these stories are in the forefront of today’s news, many of these incidents occurred years ago, even decades. The fact that they are all coming out at once is perhaps the only silver lining associated with these horrendous acts. A conversation has been sparked – a painful, terrible conversation. A conversation that is still too quiet to ensure that all perpetrators will be properly punished. Still, though, a conversation.
An RCMP report that came out this year tells us that there have been 1,186 cases of missing or murdered aboriginal women since 1980. Stats Canada – in an antiquated survey from 1993 that is still our most up to date – tells us that half of Canadian women have experienced physical or sexual violence. The numbers are staggering, sobering – but what’s even more disarming is the realization that each digit is indeed a daughter. A sister. A wife. This has to stop.
The week’s news rounded out on Sunday with the release of a fresh ISIS video. This one, apparently, laid bare the mass beheadings of a dozen Syrian soldiers. Barrack Obama, in a statement, said that the video also legitimately showed that an American aid worker was among those who were killed. Lesser headlines on various national news pages included mentions of Ebola, a shooting in Toronto, a shooting in Fort McMurray – along with articles suggesting that, at least here in Alberta, this winter may indeed be a harsh one.
Back to the CAP. Those kids sure took a tough spill during that hockey game, protected as they could be by shoulder pads and helmets. Still, a bit of a thud – still, a solid, unforgiving surface. As quickly as they fell, however, the two of them quickly popped up to a knee. Hands firm against their sticks, they braced themselves against that same ice that refused to cradle them, they pressed into it, and they lifted themselves up onto their feet. From where I stood, through their wired facemasks, I could see that they were both smiling – genuinely happy – as they skated off to rejoin the fun. I couldn’t help but wonder where that came from at such a young age. How do we learn to do that? How do we forget?
