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Monday, January 11, 2016
VOLUME 107 | ISSUE 02 | www.gulllakeadvance.com
KENNEDY ‘black cloud’ lifted over Swift Current
BY B E T H JA R R E L L
beth@gulllakeadvance.com
SWIFT CURRENT - The auditorium at the Living Sky Casino was packed Friday as hundreds came out to support former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy’s screening of his new documentary, Swift Current. The documentary, which premiered in Toronto months ago, was screened for the first time in the southwest. Kennedy said that he felt the screening was bringing closure to the sexual abuse he was a victim of in the city. “It’s a turning point, in I believe a long saga of a black cloud over Swift Current and that relationship between Sheldon and Swift Current,” Kennedy said. In addition to the screening, Swift Current mayor Jerrod Schafer announced the official launch of the Safe Places Initiative; something Kennedy says he believes will be a great success for the city. “I think they’re in a position to be leaders,” he said. “If anyone has the opportunity to turn something very negative into something very positive, it’s this city. I think people will pay attention because it’s Swift Current.” The initiative, something that Schafer and council say has been in the works for months, will require a series of checks and a certification program before adults can
work with youth in Swift Current. In addition to a mandatory criminal record check, applicants will have to complete a course on bullying, abuse, neglect and discrimination. The city has partnered with the Respect Group to make this a reality. Recertification will be required after three years, and is mandatory for all volunteers, teachers, coaches and anyone who works one-on-one with children. City employees must also be certified. “If you are not willing to be youth certified, you either have something to hide, or you’re not willing to make the investment in yourself, and if that’s the case then as a parent, I’m unwilling to hire you,” Schafer said. The hope, he says, is to create a common database in order to increase cooperation between groups. Only one certification will be needed, even if the applicant works multiple jobs with children. “We’ve got a lot of great national leaders, like Hockey Canada, who we’ve talked about a lot,” he said. “They offer training and screening, but there’s too many areas and communities that are slipping through the cracks.” The program, Schafer says, has no official launch date; it will be enacted immediately. “Any parent, when you look around and
see young kids and how innocent they are is motivated to take on that challenge. Abuse is a really difficult subject to talk about, and that’s why so often we don’t,” he said. While it may be a difficult topic to take on, Schafer says he is proud of the community for coming together to discuss such a sensitive topic. “It’s been a really humbling week in our community with so many things going on in terms of tacking the issue and talking about it,” he said. “It’s really like the air has been let out of a balloon here, lots of healing in Swift Current.” For a long time there was a fear that Sheldon was mad at our community, and I think he’s done a great job of addressing that. I think Sheldon’s concerns about not being believed is not just a Swift Current issue, it’s everywhere.” Schafer says he believes the City is on the right track with the creation of the program and the openness to discuss it. “Start the discussion, I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “For a long time we didn’t talk about it. We assumed, like parents and everyone else that there are checks and balances in place.” Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall also attended Friday’s screening. He says he believes the Safe Places Initiative can someday be expanded to a province-wide
program. “As I said earlier this week in Regina, we need to look very carefully at it from a provincial perspective and find out how we can either encourage it, expand it across the province, or potentially attach it to those groups we fund,” Wall said. “If we have a chance to take what Swift Current has lead in developing and crafting and take it to other parts of the province to make sure every child in Saskatchewan has a safe place to engage in sports and arts & culture, and play, then we have to do it,” he said. Wall said the province plans to meet with the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre to see if they can do something similar in the way of starting a program with a focus on abuse and child victims. “We know the issue very well in Swift Current and it’s hard not to be caught up in the courage of Sheldon, and his efforts in Calgary, what the Centre is doing there,” Wall said. “This has now given the community a chance to talk about it, but more importantly lead on the issue,” he said. “Sheldon’s right, this is exactly the right place for initiatives like this to start. Swift Current is in the perfect place to lead in, and Saskatchewan as a province, we’re going to do our part.”