Accusations against Nova Scotia hockey players prompt scrutiny of hazing

Tim Skuce recalls the culture of silence he encountered among hockey players he once interviewed for research about the masculine identity of elite-level players.

When asked questions about hazings or other questionable behaviour, they told him they had witnessed it, but they didn't stop it.

"They would say, `I was in the dressing room,' or `I was at a private function and this was happening," Skuce, an associate professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, said in an interview Friday.

"They felt really uncomfortable. But then they said, `I didn't do anything."'

Skuce was commenting on the deeply ingrained problems within Canada's hockey culture, a day after Nova Scotia RCMP announced that three boys were facing sexual assault charges following a hazing ritual last fall.

Later on Friday, the Mounties confirmed a fourth youth under the age of 18 was facing charges of sexual assault and assault with choking. The youth was arrested Thursday, the same day RCMP announced the first three arrests among members of a team in the Truro area, north of Halifax.

Skuce, who played hockey at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., said hazing rituals are meant to create a bond among players, but the outcome is usually the opposite.

"Hazing is an act of power that makes people feel vulnerable, intimidated and often humiliated and silenced," he said.

Still, Skuce said it was a positive sign to see police confirm that a youth from the Nova Scotia hockey team had come forward to complain after the hazing in October.

"Maybe this is the thin edge of the wedge, where people are now saying, `No, I need to come forward and I need to put this into the public realm."

Greg Gilhooly, a lawyer and survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of his hockey coach, Graham James, said the response from those involved in hockey has demonstrated a deeper understanding of what is at stake for Canada's game.

"The hockey world is reacting exactly as it should right now," Gilhooly said in an interview. "Everyone is saying this is unacceptable. The hockey community is much better now than it was back when I went through what I went though."

Gilhooly agreed with Skuce's assessment about the young victim's decision to come forward so soon after the alleged sexual assaults.

"We're in an environment now where the kids who play hockey are taught that if you see something wrong, come forward and talk to people about it, and you will be believed and supported," he said.