Senator Loffreda: Honourable senators, I rise to speak to Senator Boyer’s inquiry on the positive contributions of Métis, Inuit and First Nations to our nation and globally. I hope this initiative will contribute to our collective appreciation of Indigenous peoples as we embark on a path toward greater reconciliation.

Admittedly, my knowledge of Indigenous issues was limited before coming to the Senate. The history I was taught in school was seriously inadequate. Thankfully, that is changing, and our kids are now learning about this history, including the dark aspects.

We have spoken about great Indigenous scholars, accomplished entrepreneurs and senators, of course. But what about our national sport? Like millions of Canadians, I enjoy hockey, so I’ve opted to share inspirational stories of Indigenous athletes who shattered the glass ceiling in the sport and became exhilarating players and role models.

Many may not know this, but Indigenous peoples contributed to the creation and evolution of the game we call hockey today. I won’t take part in the historical debate over the origins of the game — that debate is for historians and hockey enthusiasts — however, it has been said that two cultures, Mi’kmaq and European Irish, contributed to the origins of the game.

The relationship between Indigenous peoples and hockey is more complex than it seems. While hockey is part of our cultural identity, not everyone feels the same way. For some Indigenous peoples, pain and sorrow are associated with hockey. Academic papers have been written on the subject, using first-hand accounts of residential school survivors, who submit that the game was used for assimilation purposes and served to erase Indigenous presence. According to some scholars, hockey was used as a tool for social engineering and the experience of the students are important stories to share, but they must be understood in the broader context of a system that was aimed at stripping Indigenous youth of their cultural identities.

In a recent article in the journal Canadian Ethnic Studies, its authors, quoting Eugene Arcand, a Cree man who has been honoured for his work in support of Indigenous sport, wrote:

Arcand sees hockey as providing an opportunity for empowerment and change while, at the same time, emphasizing that hockey has been a site of brutal prejudice and racism.

As Arcand once said:

My survival in my life is all because of sports . . . . It helped me become the leader that I am today . . . . It’s a wonderful way to develop positive lifestyles and positive attitudes.

I think it’s important to mention this dichotomy. The relationship between Indigenous peoples and hockey is multilayered and reveals some dark and painful scars of which we must be mindful. However, my intention today is to focus on success stories and role models who reached some of the highest echelons in hockey.

Perhaps the first name that comes to mind when thinking about Indigenous hockey heros is George Armstrong, who was Algonquin. He captained the Maple Leafs for 13 seasons and to four Stanley Cup wins, including its last cup in 1967 — which, by the way, Leaf’s fans, was over 20,000 days ago. Armstrong never forgot his roots and often returned to northern Ontario to speak with youth. As one commentator said:

Armstrong has always been this iconic figure, not just in terms of Maple Leafs hockey but for Indigenous hockey, culture, and communities everywhere.

Armstrong passed away in 2021, but his trailblazing legacy lives on.

Another pioneering Indigenous player is Fred Sasakamoose. Considered the first Indigenous NHL player, Running Deer, as he was known, was Cree from Saskatchewan. A Member of the Order of Canada, Sasakamoose passed away in 2020. Thankfully, he was working on his memoir, which was published posthumously and made it onto Indigo’s list of top 10 books of 2021.

Sasakamoose went to St. Michael’s Indian Residential School, where he learned to play hockey and fell in love with hockey. In his autobiography, he writes about how hockey helped him forget everything else in his life:

I felt powerful and free and alive. The school and everything that happened there melted away for a few hours.

Fred made it to the NHL in 1953 and played for the Chicago Blackhawks. His NHL career may have been short, but he paved the way for dozens of other NHLers. Beyond hockey, Sasakamoose was a pillar in his community, serving as band councillor for 35 years and as chief.

He was involved with Saskatoon’s All Nations Hockey School and started the Fred Sasakamoose All Star Hockey Week. As he writes:

It was a camp for young Indigenous hopefuls to polish their skills, but I kept it open for non-Native kids as well. It seemed important not to create barriers between the young players.

In 1998 Fred joined the NHL’s Diversity Task Force, allowing him to travel to reserves to identify skillful kids. Two of those boys were brothers DJ and Dwight King of Métis heritage. Dwight won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings.

More recently, Fred testified at the Truth and Reconciliation hearings. As he pens in his book:

When I talked at the hearings, I described my hockey experiences as well as my sexual assault. It seemed important to speak about the sport that helped me cope with the awfulness of those years, and the sport that helped me build a life after I left the school.

The following quote from Fred sums up just how important he was to Indigenous peoples. He notes:

In several recent newspaper articles, writers have described my hockey career as “trailblazing.” They have suggested that I broke some kind of barrier for Indigenous players and players of colour. It pleases me to think that might be true.

No doubt, it is true.

Among the countless young Indigenous players he inspired, Fred had a huge influence on one superstar, Bryan Trottier of Saskatchewan, whose father was Cree Métis. The name Bryan Trottier is synonymous with the New York Islanders’ dynasty of the 1980s. He led the Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups and added two more with Pittsburgh Penguins and a seventh cup in 2001 as an assistant coach with Colorado.

Trottier wrote the foreword to Fred Sasakamoose’s book. In it, he reflects on how proud he was that Fred was the first full treaty Indigenous player to break into the NHL. He writes:

That meant a lot to me and to all of us. It made us all really proud of our heritage. When my siblings and I were in school and playing sports, kids would call us names. . . . But Fred’s accomplishments made us proud . . . .

Trottier, who published his autobiography last year, spent time in his post-hockey life reaching out to Indigenous youth and played a key role in starting an Aboriginal hockey team that toured the country to provide skating lessons and hockey clinics to youth.

Trottier and Armstrong are not the only Indigenous players with their names engraved on the cup. Reggie Leach, Grant Fuhr, Jordan Nolan and head coach Craig Berube have also had the honour of raising Lord Stanley’s Cup.

One name that has yet to be engraved on the cup but is certainly one of the most accomplished Indigenous hockey players is Carey Price. His trophy case is plentiful, with Olympic and World Junior Championship gold medals and the NHL’s Vezina and Hart trophies. Beyond the rewards, one of his greatest accomplishments has been his community advocacy. He has donated large sums of money in equipment to hockey associations, youth organizations and schools. Along with his wife, Carey is also the national ambassador for the Breakfast Club of Canada, which provides nutritious food to over half a million Canadian kids a day, including 41,000 Indigenous youth.

Carey has always been proud of his roots. Here’s what he said at the NHL awards in 2015 in front of a global audience when accepting one of the four trophies that evening:

I would like to take a moment to encourage First Nations youth. A lot of people would say it’s very improbable that I’d make it to this point in my life. I made it here because I wasn’t discouraged. I worked hard to get here, took advantage of every opportunity that I had. And I would really like to encourage First Nations youth to be leaders in their communities. Be proud of your heritage, and don’t be discouraged from the improbable.

Carey Price is not the only Indigenous hockey player with Olympic hardware. Women’s hockey is increasingly more popular and more exciting than ever. I fondly remember that gold-winning game in Vancouver and that heartbreaking gold medal lost in Pyeongchang.

Among the proud silver medallists in Korea was Manitoba’s Brigette Lacquette. She became the first Indigenous woman from Canada to play hockey at the Olympics and she continues to shatter the glass ceiling. The Chicago Blackhawks hired her in 2021, making her the first Indigenous woman to scout for an NHL team. She’s only 30 years old and already an inspiration for young Indigenous girls.

Honourable senators, beyond being Indigenous, all these players share something in common: They are inspirational. From one generation to the next, these elite players have been a source of inspiration and motivation. They are role models. Lacquette, Price, Trottier and Leach have all been awarded Indspire Awards in recognition of their powerful legacies.

These Indigenous superstars, like Ethan Bear, Jordin Tootoo, Zach Whitecloud and Brandon Montour, have all had to overcome adversity to become high-performing athletes. They are a testament to what you can achieve when you work hard and love what you do.

Fred Sasakamoose understood what it meant to be a role model. He wrote:

There’ve been many Indigenous players since I started, but it’s good to think I inspired . . . kids way back then. Showed them, showed everyone, that we could make it in the white world. That’s more important than any award. And I hope by sharing my story now, non-Indigenous readers might have a better understanding of the hurdles we have to overcome to succeed.

The NHL also realizes that it has work to do to drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities. Through its Hockey is for Everyone initiative, the league wants to make hockey programs safe, positive and inclusive environments for all players and families.

Further, the Hockey Diversity Alliance was also founded in 2020 by NHL players of colour to create a platform to end racism and intolerance.

My beloved Montréal Canadiens are also committed to embarking on the path of healing and reconciliation. The Habs now make a land acknowledgement at the Bell Centre and they have honoured Indigenous leaders at home games.

Honourable colleagues, I wanted to highlight inspirational stories of Indigenous players today to inspire and in the hopes that Indigenous youth and other marginalized groups know that, indeed, hockey is for everyone.

I also wanted to highlight that with confidence, ambition and perseverance, you can succeed and excel in life despite the many challenges.

Allow me to end with one last excerpt from Sasakamoose’s book, where he recounts an exchange with a U.S. sports reporter, who was at his home to do a segment. The reporter told Fred that the network wanted a “happy story.” Fred bluntly told him he came to the wrong place.

As he looks back on this encounter, Fred writes:

His request made me think he didn’t know much about what it’s been like to be Indigenous on this continent for the last couple of centuries. Or maybe he did, and he was telling me he and his viewers didn’t care, didn’t want to hear about it. But it is part of my story, and I want people to understand that. I am a lucky man. One of those rare people who had a dream come true. Who did something that so many people would like to do but can’t. But I am also trying to survive in a world that has not always recognized our rights or given us the freedom and honour we are owed.

Thank you, meegwetch.

(Debate adjourned.)

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Woo, calling the attention of the Senate to the one hundredth anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the contributions that Chinese Canadians have made to our country, and the need to combat contemporary forms of exclusion and discrimination faced by Canadians of Asian descent.

Hon. Tony Loffreda: Honourable senators, this inquiry stands adjourned in the name of the Honourable Senator Petitclerc. After my intervention today, I ask for leave that it remain adjourned in her name.