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National Post
19 minutes ago
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: Hockey Canada judge believed in truth, not 'believe all women'
Article content She didn't leave happy, though: towards the end, McLeod asked her if she had STDs, and whether she was going to be leaving soon, which she felt was rude. E.M. also testified that McLeod also seemed annoyed at her when she returned to the room to search for a lost ring; she took an Uber home and was found crying in the shower by her mother, who 'took it upon herself' to report a sexual assault to police. Article content E.M. later explained to the court that her actions were driven by fear — fear that she never mentioned until she filed a civil suit against Hockey Canada, four years after the fact. Her mind 'separated' from her body to cope, she claimed. The judge didn't buy her story: important details had changed over time, and E.M.'s own concept of truth was uncomfortably fuzzy. Plus, E.M. initially told police that she didn't think the men would have physically forced her to stay. Article content The judge didn't hypothesize the complainant's actual feelings about what happened, but I suspect E.M. was quite miserable. She may have felt shame and regret for cheating on her boyfriend, as the defence argued during the trial. The little oral sex that was had was awkward and not erotic at all. The STD question may have felt like an accusation. Article content Article content Pop culture tells women that consensual sex is a neutral to empowering act, and good feminists will tell their friends that there's nothing to be ashamed about in sex. Slut shaming, we all knew in the good year 2018, was bad. But missing from that intense belief in female agency was the other side of the coin: that women can consent to something and wish they hadn't. Article content And certainly, the men regret it too. Their evidence suggested they took care to ensure consent was given at the time, and even that wasn't enough to keep an investigation from pausing, perhaps snuffing out, their NHL careers. McLeod and Foote were put on indefinite leave last year by the New Jersey Devils, as was Hart by the Philadelphia Flyers and Dubé by the Calgary Flames. And in 2022, Formenton may have lost out on a new contract with the Ottawa Senators due to the allegations; he played in Sweden until the charges were laid in 2024, and now works in construction. As for the future of these five men, the ball is still in the Ontario Crown's court. Prosecutors will have to decide in the next month whether to appeal for another shot at securing convictions; there's still a way this can drag out for years. Article content Supporters of E.M. will say the acquittals amount to a terrible outcome for women and sexual assault survivors, but they're the opposite. If sexual assault is to be taken seriously, it needs to mean something. It's to the actual victims' benefit that Carroccia didn't bend the rules to acrobatically extend the concept of sexual assault to new frontiers of apparently regretful intercourse, as courts have done in the past; doing so would have cheapened the concept to dollar store levels. Article content So, now what? After the decision was read, E.M.'s lawyer, Karen Bellehumeur, immediately took to calling for reform. 'While the accused's rights are important, those protections should not come at the expense of survivors' well-being,' she told a media scrum late Thursday. She expressed frustration with the fact that E.M. had to testify for nine days and was subject to 'insulting, unfair, mocking and disrespectful' cross-examination. 'She's really never experienced not being believed like this before.' Nine days of careful scrutiny is a very modest ask when a man is facing jail for an apparently consensual act that didn't pass the initial police sniff test. Article content
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
New Ukrainian rowers taking on distinctly St. John's tradition
A team made up of six Ukrainian newcomers to Newfoundland will compete in this year's Royal St. John's Regatta. (Garrett Barry/CTV News) A group of six Ukrainian newcomers to Newfoundland and Labrador are trying their hand at a distinctly St. John's sport: fixed-seat rowing. The team, organized by the Ukrainian National Federation group in St. John's, have trained all week for the upcoming Royal St. John's Regatta, that will be held Wednesday if wind conditions are favourable. 'It's about traditions, because, for us, it's really hard now,' said Irina Pegasina, one of the driving forces behind the team. 'We live in (a) new country, we start trying to integrate in this country, and we want to be involved in this tradition.' 'It's easy to watch, but when you start rowing, it's a little bit hard,' added Viktor Shavliuk, one of the six brand-new rowers who make up the team. The team and the Ukrainian National Federation group believe it's the first time an all-Ukrainian contingent has raced on a team in the St. John's regatta. The group is led by coxswain and coach Megan Willette. They've been practicing, on average, five times a day since the beginning of June. The St. John's Regatta is fairly unique: It's one of the relatively few fixed-seat competitions in the rowing world. But it's notoriety mostly stems from for the moveable, shops-closing public holiday that travels with the rowing races. Whenever the Regatta is a 'go,' a holiday is declared — giving a lot of power to the closed-door committee that meets the morning before the regatta is held to examine the weather forecasts. Pegasina said her team has gotten used to checking the windy weather in St. John's that, all too often, interferes with her practice schedule. 'Every day we do this, because every day we check the (boathouse conditions flag),' she said. 'We green, red, green, red, yellow… it's really fun every day to check it.' Pegasina said she set her heart on rowing in the regatta the first time she saw it, arriving in Newfoundland from Ukraine after the war broke out in her home country. 'I think it's really good for us,' she said. 'I just want to be involved, as Ukrainians, in the Canadian and in the St. John's community.' Willette signed on to coach the team in the spring, as it just started to form. They've had an awfully quick introduction into the sport: while most teams competing in the Royal St. John's Regatta hit the water in May, this group didn't start practicing until June. 'The first time they got in the boat, they could barely pull two strokes together. And they were getting compliments on their turn in the time trials for the rest of the evening, so they've been very good,' she said. 'I think they surprised a lot of people too.' The team will compete in a brand new 'open crew' division, which will debut this year. It marks the first time the regatta has hosted teams not segregated into men's and women's categories. 'I just want them to have a really good race, and to be proud of themselves when they're finished,' Willete said. Pegasina has her own goal: make a few connections, maybe friends, and become regulars around the boathouse in the years to come. 'I hope we will have this team year by year,' she said. 'We know all these people, and I hope they will be our friends.'
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Meet the father-daughter duo who are key volunteers in the track and field community for the Canada Games
The Stenders have long been associated with track and field. Ahead of the 2025 Canada Games in St. John's next month, meet a dad and daughter who aren't slowing down when it comes to supporting athletes and the sport.
