That’s why an NB hockey group hired a black drag performer to lead workshops on respect | CBC News

When Hockey New Brunswick began pursuing all complaints of discrimination last year, organizers expected to receive few.

Instead, 29 allegations were investigated, resulting in 15 players being banned for at least five games and up to 20.

Executive Director Nic Jansen said it was a sign the organization — the governing body of all hockey in the province — needed to take a different approach.

“So we decided to be more proactive,” he said. “And Normand was recommended to us as someone who could lead workshops on equity, diversity and inclusion.”

Normand Hector, who identifies as black and gay, has agreed to meet with players, parents and coaches in Moncton and the Saint John area beginning next month. When he’s delivering his Hockey NB workshops, he’s not airborne.

Local ice hockey groups had hired him to give lectures in previous years.

Some concerns he heard led him to believe that changes would take a lot of time and work.

“I’ve heard of bad parenting,” Hector said. “I hear about disrespect towards coaches. I hear that racist slurs are still being uttered.

“I also hear that young girls want the same opportunities, the same equal opportunities to play a game they love.”

Hector said he tries to encourage empathy by encouraging players to treat each other the way they would like to be treated.

He asks them to imagine being verbally attacked for something they couldn’t change, like the color of their skin.

“I ask them how they would feel if someone deliberately wanted to make sure they crush you on the ice with it. How would you feel?”

When they reply that they don’t like it at all, he asks why they would tolerate this behavior in themselves or anyone else.

“Why switch to the carotid artery? Because that’s what I call it,” Hector said. “When you say those words and you’re after those things on the ice, you know you’re after the jugular.

“And who told you it was okay to do that? You’ve seen other people do it and nothing has been done about you automatically jumping on this bandwagon and doing the exact same thing? My workshops are about teaching players to think differently.”

When Hector feels he’s still not reaching someone, he tells them that the world is changing and bullies and bigots are putting their own careers on the line.

He asks them to introduce themselves, given a chance to play professionally, and then have to explain why they were messaged for something inappropriate or cruel.

Hector believes the hockey world is being forced to move forward, as evidenced by all of the sponsors who left Hockey Canada in the wake of the sexual assault scandal.

He also believes pressure should come from parents paying a “tremendous amount of money” to have their kids in the sport.

“I would think that parents would say, ‘OK, this is going to stop here and now. My son or daughter wants to play hockey. I want them to be treated fairly and equally. My money is just as good as everyone else’s, then I want this. I demand this.'”

Further partnerships follow

Jansen said Hockey NB is also working on partnerships with experts who can give workshops to raise awareness about sexual violence and toxic masculinity.

However, he said he was unwilling to announce who those partners were until details were finalized.

He also wants to make sport more attractive for girls.

Last year, Jansen said, female enrollment in the province rose 16 percent, while male enrollment fell about 6 percent.

Some municipalities have not changed their arena plans to reflect this, he said.

“A lot of ice age is done historically,” he said.

“And unless there’s an ice age, it’s difficult for them to grow.”

He said the organization also aims to promote girls and women in leadership roles such as coaching and office, and to have more female volunteers.

third party intermediary

Jansen said Hockey NB has also hired a third party to conduct investigations into complaints.

He expects the number of complaints to increase over the next year as more and more people become aware of the complaints mechanism, which directs referees or witnesses to verbal taunts, insults or intimidation based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability instructs to report it.

He says Hockey NB needs more expertise to investigate these complaints with skill and sensitivity.

By engaging an outside party, he says, Hockey NB will have more consistency and procedural fairness for both the complainant and the defendant.

“We believe this will be a big step in the right direction,” he said.