Jerry Agar

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : AGAR: Winning with honour should be the Canadian way AGAR: Winning with honour should be the Canadian way Author of the article: Article content If we cloak ourselves in glory when a national team achieves victory, we wear the coat of shame when they bring dishonour. Advertisement 2 Article content AGAR: Winning with honour should be the Canadian way Back to video I'll never forget the booming roar of the crowd, growing louder as I climbed the stairs out of the subway in Toronto to the streets throbbing with a celebration of Canadians following Olympic hockey gold over the U.S.A. in 2010. Sidney Crosby scored the winner and we celebrated as if we had put the puck in the net. When our women's soccer team won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, we swelled with pride. Our Olympic committee said those women had changed the face of soccer forever. Olympians “win for their country.” Christine Sinclair, the greatest soccer scorer of all time – which is another point of pride – said then, “We've inspired a lot of kids.” No doubt she was right; especially an inspiration for little girls to go for gold. Advertisement 3 Article content What are the kids thinking now? Our team was caught in a cheating scandal that first looked to be the handiwork of a couple of over-eager, lower-level members of the coaching staff. The head coach declared no knowledge of the transgression and voluntarily absented herself from the sidelines of their first Paris contest against New Zealand. Then TSN's Rick Westhead reported that cheating has been common practice for the team for years, including at the Tokyo Olympics where it won gold. Soccer Canada believed him and so did FIFA, which brought down a devastating six-point deduction, fined the national federation $313,000 and banned head coach Bev Priestman for one year. Some are saying the penalty is unfair as it penalizes players who had nothing to do with it. Advertisement 4 Article content To believe that is to believe the Canadian women are at best naïve or at worst complicit and lying about it. They are not idiots. There is no point in cheating unless it's to gain an advantage and how could that be achieved without player knowledge? Such is sports fandom that, when our team wins, “we” win. When they lose, “they” lose and we distance ourselves. Remember the pride when Ben Johnson won gold in the 100 metres at the 1988 Olympics? The world's fastest man. A Canadian. Then glory turned to shame when he was found to be doping and stripped of his medals. “Well,” we said, “not really Canadian. Born in Jamaica.” We have that handy excuse with women's soccer coach Priestman, who coached the team to gold in Tokyo and travelled with great national anticipation with the team to Paris only days ago. Advertisement 5 Article content She isn't Canadian either, thankfully. She is from England. Let's blame them. When it comes to the Olympics we are all involved. The federal government just infused $55 million into the teams and individuals in Paris. The government said it was doing so to “invest in athletes and organizations working hard to represent Canada internationally.” So that $313,000 fine hurts. We worked hard for that money. On the weekend, the government said it's withholding “some” funding from soccer. Sunday afternoon in a sports bar in Toronto, when Vanessa Gilles scored the winning goal over France, the crowd erupted, as it does when its champions win. I hope they inspire a lot of little kids. I hope coaches and parents teach lessons about winning with honour. Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : AGAR: Winning with honour should be the Canadian way Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

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For the 750,000 members of CUPE, here is a question. When is enough, enough? Article content

Advertisement 1 Share this Story : AGAR: It's time for CUPE members to stand with Israel AGAR: It's time for CUPE members to stand with Israel Author of the article: Article content For the 750,000 members of CUPE, here is a question. When is enough, enough? Advertisement 2 Article content AGAR: It's time for CUPE members to stand with Israel Back to video When does the ranting of a union leader, sounding suspiciously anti-Semitic — and certainly having nothing to do with the daily employment concerns of union members — cross the line? Fred Hahn, Ontario CUPE president and national vice-president, cheered the savage and uncivilized Oct. 7 Hamas attack on innocent Israelis. It was difficult to read those posts and not see Hahn cheering the death of Jews. The National Post quoted CUPE member Carrie Silverberg saying it looked that way to her. She said she cried. Following an outcry, Hahn gave what seemed a begrudging apology. However, during the recent Olympics, Hahn weighed in again, reposting a video that turned a diving Israeli Olympian into a bomb. Now, on Facebook, Hahn posted a statement that effectively said he was sorry you were offended. Not that he was sorry for what was meant by the video. Advertisement 3 Article content He wrote, “My intention in posting it was to call attention to the reality that, while the Russian federation was barred from participating in the Paris Olympics, the state of Israel was permitted to participate — which appeared to me to be a double standard.” Hahn's ongoing support of the attack of Oct. 7 seems to have clouded his judgment. In the Russia/Ukraine war, Russia is the aggressor. In the Palestine/Israel conflict, Hamas, the effective government of Palestine, is the aggressor. Its attack, during a ceasefire, is consistent with its stated policy of complete annihilation of the Jews. Why does Hahn believe the victim should be censored? Nowhere does Hahn question Palestine's participation in the Olympics. Advertisement 4 Article content His recent post continues the lie that Israel is a colonizer in a part of the world the Jews have inhabited for thousands of years. He accuses Israel of genocide but fails to criticize Hamas and its stated and repeated policy of genocide of the Jews. He doesn't call for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas or even ask for proof they are alive. A small group of Jewish CUPE members is suing the union in a human rights complaint, in part triggered by Hahn's posts, but also for what they claim are ongoing anti-Semitic incidents over several years. Do they have to do that on their own? Or is it time for 750,000 people to say, “This is not what we stand for and we don't pay dues for leadership to engage in divisive international politics.” CUPE members, what do you stand for? The complaint says Jewish members feel “isolated, unwelcomed, scared, silenced, discriminated against, threatened and harassed.” Are they on their own? Does Fred Hahn speak for you? Is CUPE no place for a Jew? Are you with Hahn, with your brothers and sisters in the union, or just quietly complacent? Now is your time. Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : AGAR: It's time for CUPE members to stand with Israel Comments Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Latest National Stories News Near Elliot Lake Featured Local Savings

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