Hockey Night in Canada

After a couple of what seemed to me rather banal interrogatives, my turn came. I remember asking a school board official who was present at the seminar what would happen if, in the process of attempting to constrain a tumultuous teen, one should unwittingly hurt him (admittedly, somewhat unlikely as most male teens tower over their teachers). The bluntness of his answer startled me, and the others present. In essence, the room was told that it was not in the interest of the pedagogue to injure the child, even if totally unintentionally, as the school commission would not vindicate their staff member. Perhaps not surprisingly, there was an edge to my follow-up question. “In that context,” I recall asking, “given the fact that chaperoning the Friday night dance is optional, why would one volunteer?”

Considering the recent downtown tumult on Ste. Catherine Street, I believe that the police find themselves in a somewhat similar no-win situation. In a word, many citizens want the law enforcement services, but only if accompanied by a virtual assurance that no one will be hurt. How else can one explain the half-hearted attempt to control the rowdies that Monday night last month? In fact, the head of the SPVM essentially boasted that police objectives had been met because no one was harmed. Certain young people were free to throw (at both police and fireman alike) bottles, rocks, and whatever they could their hands on with basically no risk to their own personal safety. Now I suppose that’s a pretty good deal.

I was once told some years ago that in Glasgow, Scotland, whenever there is match-up between the two local and rival football teams (Celtics and Rangers) that all leave for police is cancelled — every cop that night is on duty in what constitutes a massive show of force. Furthermore, most European and Latin American cities have (and frequently use) water cannon in order to disperse unruly demonstrators, thus avoiding a more direct and frequently bloody confrontation with the forces of order. In this way, it is rare that anyone is seriously injured, although a few of the more inebriated individuals may be a little shaken up — and considerably wet!

It has been said that sports events today are not quite what they were in days gone by. From my youth and time spent at the old Montreal Forum, I recollect only an intense appreciation (almost unique to this city) of the quality of the NHL game being played. Fans could easily identify a player who was “giving it his all” from one who was not. As in opera at La Scala in Milan — miss one note and you’re hooted off the stage! It was, after all, in Montreal in the 1970s and 1980s that the Soviet Red Army hockey squad received its most favourable recognition for being the remarkable team that it was. Montrealers knew their hockey and took it seriously.

Today, in contrast, professional sport has become just another excuse to party. Faces are painted, towels are waved, and much alcohol is consumed. In the arena, crowds are worked into a frenzy by electronic gadgetry the like of which has never been seen before. Win or lose, the potential for mayhem at the end of the match is great.

In this new, more complex context, police must be given the numbers, the equipment, and the unequivocal mandate to do the job that is desired of them. What’s more, the civil authority must support them in the balanced actions that they take so that public order is secured and maintained. Otherwise, they are as teachers supervising the high school dance - essentially little more than bystanders, perhaps to be listened to, but then again, perhaps not.

• Robert N. Wilkins, a researcher and local historian, can be reached at montreal_1900@hotmail.com