Words fail to describe the horror of the abuse claimed by former Canadian Hockey League players on their respective teams.
In a hard-hitting text that reveals in minute and degrading detail a reign of torture and humiliation rooted in hockey culture and inflicted on minors – all under the seemingly indolent gaze of coaches and team leaders -, the journalist of Radio-Canada Martin Leclerc wonders how such depravity could have been possible and, above all, tolerated.
This question cannot remain unanswered.
It has been known for ages that initiation rituals have given rise (in universities, among others) to acts of degradation and sexual humiliation. Wherever excesses have been denounced and publicized, institutions have tried to limit the damage, with some success elsewhere. It seems that junior hockey has evolved on the fringes of society, allowing crimes to be committed against children and making everything seem “normal”. Apparently justified by a cycle of violence perpetuated from generation to generation of coaches and leaders, this system is akin to pure barbarism.
The abuse and assaults came to light because an Ontario Superior Court judge, Paul Perell, last week refused to certify a class action claim brought by three former hockey players from all three junior hockey leagues. of Canada (including the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). The request covered a period from 1979 to 2014 and could have concerned some 15,000 players in around 60 teams.
And while Judge Perell believed the overwhelming evidence and testimony that went with it, he instead encourages the use of an individual complaint system. The case is complex.
Let this single paragraph written by Judge Perell suffice to sum up the unspeakable experience of adolescents under the guilty gaze of leaders who should have acted: “This horrific evidence [établit] that an unknown number of members who played in the WHL, OHL or QMJHL were tortured, forcibly confined, shaved, stripped naked, drugged, intoxicated, physically and sexually assaulted, raped, gang-raped, forced to physically or sexually assault teammates, encouraged to sexually assault, individually or in groups, young women invited to team parties; forced to drink or eat urine, saliva, semen, feces or other despicable substances; forced to inflict injuries on themselves, forced to commit acts of bestiality. »
Junior hockey has been multiplying scandals for a few months, and we felt on Monday that the federal Minister of Sports, Pascale St-Onge, was more than exasperated. Let’s put an end to the initiations now, if they continue, she thunders with reason!
But beyond the wounds and stigmas that remain among the victims of this institutionalized torture, the urgency remains to tackle the impunity of those who tolerate and have tolerated such depravity, with a smile on their face in some cases. This is the real sacrilege.