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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2022 10:55:49 GMT -4
FROM THE JOURNAL-PIONEER:
Hockey P.E.I. suspends player for social media posts about league’s handling of racism
Logan MacLean · Reporter
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — If this is it for Keegan Mitchell’s hockey career, he’s OK with that.
“At least I’m doing something right,” he said.
Mitchell was indefinitely suspended by Hockey P.E.I. this week after he made a social media post calling out the league’s handling of racism.
“On January 5th, Sherwood Metros player Keegan Mitchell, made a post on social media that was a direct violation of Hockey P.E.I.’s social media policy. This post was publicly critical of officials, Hockey P.E.I. and made reference to a Kensington Vipers player,” said a letter from Hockey P.E.I. sent to both Mitchell and his coach.
“Hockey P.E.I. has been recently made aware that the Kensington Vipers are seeking legal council (sic) based on the social media post. Due to these two factors, the (discipline and ethics) committee deemed Keegan a member not in good standing and suspend him indefinitely.”
The suspension includes all sanctioned Hockey P.E.I. activities.
The issue comes from some fine-print details of the agreement players sign when they join the league, Mitchell said.
“I wasn’t aware that they had that fine print in whatever we signed at the start of the year, that’s what it must have been in. … I don’t know if it’s a thing we’re supposed to be made aware of or not.”
To Mitchell, the whole thing seems like an attempt to shut him up, he said.
“The threat of the legal action for me speaking out on an event that truly did happen is kind of alarming.”
But he’s not backing down.
“I’m going to be standing my ground on this until the day I die, basically,” he said Jan. 7 in an interview with SaltWire Network. “This whole thing wasn’t about singling out the opposing player, nor is it trying to single out my teammate. It’s really all about Hockey P.E.I. trying to submit the right penalization for this scenario. But all this could have been prevented if they had just penalized the right player in the first place.”
Key points from Hockey P.E.I.’s Social Media Policy:
Hockey P.E.I. respects the right of all teams and association personnel to express their views publicly. At the same time, players must be aware of the dangers social media and networking can present.
Complaints to Hockey P.E.I. will be investigated and reviewed by the Hockey P.E.I. discipline and ethics committee and players may be subject to disciplinary action as per bylaw 22.
Comments or remarks of an inappropriate nature which are detrimental to a team, associations, leagues, Hockey P.E.I. or an individual will not be tolerated and will be subject to disciplinary action.
The Social Media Policy document does not specify what disciplinary action entails.
Source: Social Media Policy page on HockeyPEI.com.
Wider issue
Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly, who heard about Mitchell’s suspension on Jan. 7, said he was incredibly disappointed.
"Suspending Keegan indefinitely is not sending a good message, to me. He became an ally with that social media post, and I commend the young man, and I'm calling on Hockey P.E.I. to look at that decision."
McNeilly also said the player who apologized for making the comment should have been suspended for the full five games that the offence entails, even if the referee didn’t witness the incident.
“I don’t care about your bylaws and your rules. It’s embarrassing.”
On the other hand, McNeilly doesn’t believe punishment is the real answer, he said.
“There has to be more of an educational piece. I have to understand that this is being dealt with. And I’ve just lost a little bit of faith here at the moment in how we’re handling this situation.”
McNeilly has recently been pushing for Premier Dennis King’s government to appoint a commissioner on systemic racism, an issue McNeilly has witnessed in sport.
“I’ve seen (racism in sport) throughout the years, but it seems to be being used as an attack mechanism now. It seems to be used as, ‘This is the worst thing I can say or do to you, so I’m going to do it.’ ”
For his part, Mitchell remains firm, in spite of his suspensions.
“I’m going to continue to fight for my teammate and the other people who are being wronged by Hockey P.E.I., because I’m in it this far and I’m not willing to stop any time soon,” he said.
SaltWire Network called Hockey Canada on Jan. 7 to ask about how it handles complaints of racism and bullying. SaltWire was directed to read the organization’s Bullying and Harassment Abuse Policies, and a representative from Hockey Canada said someone would contact Saltwire to answer specific questions.
No one had called or emailed by deadline on Jan. 7.
Hockey P.E.I. was also contacted on Jan. 6 but hadn’t responded by deadline on Jan. 7.
Logan MacLean is a reporter with SaltWire Network in Prince Edward Island.
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Post by bois on Jan 10, 2022 9:56:38 GMT -4
pretty embarrassing for Hockey PEI indeed
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Post by Captain Obvious on Jan 10, 2022 10:01:44 GMT -4
They threw a bucket of gasoline on a fire by suspending the kid indefinitely.
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Post by jimmy on Jan 10, 2022 10:01:52 GMT -4
pretty embarrassing for Hockey PEI indeed Second high profile incident drawing criticism this season - would appear that a housecleaning is soon in order at Hockey PEI ... |
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Post by bois on Jan 10, 2022 10:07:59 GMT -4
pretty embarrassing for Hockey PEI indeed Second high profile incident drawing criticism this season - would appear that a housecleaning is soon in order at Hockey PEI ... yeah the first one while i don't agree with their reaction i can understand it somewhat...... but we have heard nothing from them since they outsourced the investigation..... classic sweepin under the rug this latest one they are caught with giant egg on their face because a player who is essentially at the end of his career under the umbrella of Hockey PEI has went public..... and yet they have not repsonded in public and are blocking people from posting on social media platforms directly to them..... like i said very embarrassing |
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Post by jimmy on Jan 10, 2022 11:39:51 GMT -4
Second high profile incident drawing criticism this season - would appear that a housecleaning is soon in order at Hockey PEI ... yeah the first one while i don't agree with their reaction i can understand it somewhat...... but we have heard nothing from them since they outsourced the investigation..... classic sweepin under the rug this latest one they are caught with giant egg on their face because a player who is essentially at the end of his career under the umbrella of Hockey PEI has went public..... and yet they have not repsonded in public and are blocking people from posting on social media platforms directly to them..... like i said very embarrassing I think the problem on the first one is the timeline ... they needed to get to the bottom of it quickly, and then act on it. Outsourcing the investigation, with an undetermined ending date (or at least unannounced) makes it seem like nothing is happening. It does not seem to be a situation where the investigation should take months ... |
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Post by Captain Obvious on Jan 12, 2022 14:34:40 GMT -4
Update on the situation...
Nicola MacLeod
@nicolammacleod
·
5m
This just in from Hockey PEI: the organization acknowledges their errors in judgment in a statement.
Keegan Mitchell's indefinite suspension has been repealed effective immediately.
The Kensington player who made the racist comment in the game now getting a 5 game suspension.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2022 6:58:16 GMT -4
I think it's very commendable that Hockey PEI not only acknowledged that mistakes had been made - but also apologized to those involved. It drew national attention to do that - but they did it anyway.
In the days of social media - public perception is everything. These days - you fix what you can.
For those who seem to think that public perception and opinions on forums like this one don't carry any weight - I can tell you that they do carry considerable clout. I've personally witnessed many changes in the game precipitated by opinion over the years.
They (Hockey PEI) have my utmost respect for doing the right thing. They just raised the bar for accountability. Well done!
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Post by bois on Jan 14, 2022 10:07:51 GMT -4
complete opposite point of view here
had they done the apology and acknowedged their mistake(s) right away i'd agree with you
they buried their collective heads in the sand until they literally had no choice but to do what they did
no respect here
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Post by Smiley on Jan 14, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -4
They (Hockey PEI) have my utmost respect for doing the right thing. They just raised the bar for accountability. Well done! Wow - you have an incredible low bar for accountability. They were forced to do this apology because they did NOT take accountability originally. PEI Hockey gets a "meh" from me because they only took action AFTER this blew up on them and went viral. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2022 19:08:09 GMT -4
They (Hockey PEI) have my utmost respect for doing the right thing. They just raised the bar for accountability. Well done! Wow - you have an incredible low bar for accountability. They were forced to do this apology because they did NOT take accountability originally. PEI Hockey gets a "meh" from me because they only took action AFTER this blew up on them and went viral. Anybody can clip a sentence from somebody else's post and then add their two cents to make their point. My post also said - "For those who seem to think that public perception and opinions on forums like this one don't carry any weight - I can tell you that they do carry considerable clout. I've personally witnessed many changes in the game precipitated by opinion over the years."My thought process was that it's better late than never - and that it takes a bigger person to admit they were wrong and make an apology - than it does for somebody to just ignore the original wrong. I most certainly do commend them on doing the right thing and taking responsibility for, and addressing, a serious wrong. Not an argument - but why not quote the post - rather than trying to dissect and point a finger? Also - not looking for a battle with any of the Admins. I know how things work. It's bad enough having some of my posts being deleted every other day for basically no reason whatsoever other than somebody just doesn't agree but has admin powers and doesn't want anybody to bad mouth the Blue Jays - or for some other petty reason. . . |
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Post by Captain Obvious on Jan 15, 2022 9:19:16 GMT -4
They (Hockey PEI) have my utmost respect for doing the right thing. They just raised the bar for accountability. Well done! Wow - you have an incredible low bar for accountability. They were forced to do this apology because they did NOT take accountability originally. PEI Hockey gets a "meh" from me because they only took action AFTER this blew up on them and went viral. Agree, they were forced to do the right thing due to media and political influence. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2022 9:58:01 GMT -4
Wow - you have an incredible low bar for accountability. They were forced to do this apology because they did NOT take accountability originally. PEI Hockey gets a "meh" from me because they only took action AFTER this blew up on them and went viral. Agree, they were forced to do the right thing due to media and political influence. Could somebody please tell me where anybody claimed that they didn't cave in to public pressure? That was the whole point of the thread - to help effect change. . . Good on Hockey PEI for correcting a serious wrong. Add one more to a growing list of public sentiment precipitating change. |
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Post by jimmy on Jan 15, 2022 10:38:33 GMT -4
Agree, they were forced to do the right thing due to media and political influence. Could somebody please tell me where anybody claimed that they didn't cave in to public pressure? That was the whole point of the thread - to help effect change. . . Good on Hockey PEI for correcting a serious wrong. Add one more to a growing list of public sentiment precipitating change. I think that while Hockey PEI took steps to correct the situation following public pressure, the fact that they initially handled it the way that they did, especially coming so close on the heels of the Halifax Hawks situation (that is still unresolved - this investigation is taking longer than a major crime), is what has many saying more needs to be done … not so much more with regards to this specific situation, but more with regards to the workings of Hockey PEI. Whether that is leadership personnel, governance format, training, public awareness campaigns, or some combination of all of these, simply saying,” oops, we messed up, sorry”, does not come across as enough. Albeit - a necessary first step. |
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