14-year-old Quebec hockey player says opponent used racial slur
'It hurts me,' says Tyson Mathias who plays on a team in Abitibi region made up mostly of aboriginal players
A mediator is now involved after a 14-year old minor hockey player from the community of Winneway, Que., says one of his opponants called him "a savage" and taunted him with the N-word while on the ice.
Tyson Mathias, who plays on the McDonald's Barracuda, Bantam B team says the incident happened during a game in Ville-Marie, Que., which is just near the Ontario border.
The team is made up mostly of aboriginal players.
"To me it means that they're calling us dirty. It hurts me," Mathias said.
CBC was not able to contact members of the opposing team for their account of what happened.
Christian Boulé, the vice president of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue hockey association and director of referees, said both sides met with officials Wednesday night.
"They were there to find solutions to that problem — not about criticism or blaming each other," Boulé said. Everyone was working to find a way forward, and "really solve that problem for good," he added.
This is not the first time the hockey association has had to deal with this issue. The association has been working on the problem of racism since last November, when it said it was dealing with reports of insults being hurled at Cree children.
Half of the players of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue league are aboriginal.
Officials will soon be doing a tour to emphasize that aboriginal players are an important part of their membership.
Referees are being to told to show no tolerance for race-based remarks.
based on a report from CBC's Angelica Montgomery with files from Radio-Canada