Editorials - Aug. 26, 2022

It’s about time  

In the past week, two important leadership positions have been filled by Indigenous candidates, bringing their knowledge and experience to shape the future of Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Michelle O’Bonsawin to the Supreme Court of Canada, making her the first Indigenous person to serve on the country’s highest court. Just days later, Dr. Alika Lafontaine became the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Medical Association. Not only do these appointments bring Indigenous voices to the justice and medical fields in Canada, but they have become role models for future generations of Indigenous youth. 
   

In interviews with the media, both O’Bonsawin and Lafontaine highlighted the need for diverse voices at the table. These appointments are long overdue, as Canada needs to step up the representation of all communities in positions of influence. Indigenous leaders rising to the top of their fields and influencing decisions that affect all Canadians is the best way to bring equality and reconciliation to the country. – DS

A step to change

This weekend, London native Nazem Kadri will bring the Stanley Cup to the Forest City and one stop on the storied cup’s itinerary is the London Muslim Mosque. Kadri, who became the first-ever Muslim to win the cup, has made the mosque a stop for the day after he and his family have spent most of their lives on the receiving end of racist slurs and attacks that continue today. It’s also notable that this is happening in the city in which a Muslim family was run down and killed by a man accused of targetting them for their identity as Muslims.
   

In many ways, the world of sport can be the ultimate level playing ground; a meritocracy in which people are judged by their ability to play a game, rather than where they’re from or what they believe. But we know that isn’t always true, as racist attacks, slurs and songs have persisted in every sport from hockey to soccer. Hockey, particularly, has a problem with inclusion, from accounts of racism both on the ice and in the stands to Hockey Canada’s current sexual assault scandal.
   

Kadri taking the initiative to include his local mosque is a clear step in the right direction towards making the sport of hockey more accessible. It also feels like another way in which sports are changing right alongside the world. The prototypical image of a hockey player is changing, just as decades of change in Europe and North America have ushered in new faces, changing minds about what a “German soccer player” or a “Canadian hockey player” might look like.
   

Kadri’s plans for this weekend are a big deal for London’s Muslim community and his initiative may go a long way toward inspiring the next Nazem Kadri and all Canadians should be proud. – SL 

Worth the wait 

Last Thursday and Friday, the Huron County Plowmen’s Association, alongside hosts Brian and Annette MacKenzie, hosted the 94th Huron County Plowing Match. The event marked a return to the first full-sized event since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 match and modification of the 2021 match. Those modifications meant the suspension of the annual Princess and Queen of the Furrow competitions and no gala awards ceremony in either year.
   

Thanks to the perseverance of the group, however, the event was one of the biggest in memory, with crowds filling MacKenzies’ driving shed for the gala dinner on Friday, the Queen speeches earlier that day and the Princess competition on Thursday. Many of those same audience members made their way out to the fields thanks to people movers being operated by horse and by tractor, making for exciting days.
   

It shows what happens when a club pushes on, making sure the event goes forward. Perseverance was also a keyword for Luanne McGregor, who won the Queen of the Furrow crown on Friday night. McGregor ran a number of times for both the Princess and the Queen title, alongside vying for other roles like the Seaforth Fall Fair Ambassador she won prior to COVID-19. In an interview with The Citizen, she said that pushing on and putting herself out in the community through events like the match is how she aims to push for agriculture awareness.
   

So, congratulations to both the association and McGregor on the event and the win, both of which required the perseverance that seems so prevalent in Huron County’s community groups. – JDS