Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak about a growing concern in our society, which is the amount of violence we have started to see in sports.
We have all seen the disturbing images of Marc Savard lying on the ice, not moving after a head shot by Matt Cooke. This is at the NHL level. We have also seen Patrick Cormier and the elbow to Mikael Tam at the junior levels. Unfortunately, what we hear and see more and more are incidents at the amateur levels. Just a few weeks ago a young hockey player in Edmonton was speared and ended up having half of his intestines removed. These are examples of what is tarnishing sports in general but particularly hockey right now.
It is high time this issue of violence in sports is taken seriously. League authorities need help to end the violence. They are doing what they can with the tools that they have, but why does a savage assault, which would result in charges of aggravated assault anywhere else, warrant nothing but a few game suspensions?
That is why we are calling on the government to establish a royal commission on violence in sports. Why a royal commission? I will answer that shortly.
First, let us look at what a royal commission into violence in sports would look like. A royal commission is a government public inquiry into an issue. It is called to look into matters of great importance. These can be matters such as government structure, the treatment of minorities or events of considerable public concern, such as the growing amount of violence in sports.
Royal commissions usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside of government and public consultations as well. If the government agreed to call a royal commission, a number of stakeholders could participate from all affected areas, from amateur sports leagues to all the players, so to speak, in the sporting world.
We could also bring in health and talk to organizations like the Brain Injury Association of Canada, sports psychologists to look at how social trends are affecting sports and members of the legal community to talk about law enforcement so when an assault happened on the ice or on a soccer pitch or on a football field or wherever it would be, we would know what laws to implement.
The royal commission would also allow us to talk about and look into other areas such as coaching, officiating and what the sports equipment manufacturers are making this equipment out of these days, Kevlar for example.
I am huge sports fan. I played, I coached and I refereed hockey, lacrosse and football. A royal commission would allow us to work together in a non-partisan fashion for the betterment of all athletes from young to old and from amateur to professional.
I urge the government to do the right thing and answer the call for a royal commission so our young players can play our games safely, without fear of violence that could end their fun and enjoyment, which is what sport is truly all about.