“Make it better for indigenous people”
Young native players have been a part of the QMJHL for a long time. Many of them had a big impact on their team, players like Everett Sanipass, and more recently, Francis Verrault-Paul, Mikisiw Awashish or Louis-Philippe Simard
The Chicoutimi Saguenéens have a great track record drafting players from many native communities in their region. “We drafted many of them in the past, including Francis Verreaulty-Paul, who has had a tremendous impact on this franchise”, says coach Yanick Jean.
He says he’s thrilled to see young native hockey players have more and more opportunities to play in the league. But he’s even more happy to see that racism is in serious decline and that incidents are now very rare.
“We’re talking about it a lot more and we are taking action. Our whole mentality has changed”, says Jean. “Before, it was a taboo subject. Nobody would talk about it. I think it’s a great thing to now have a day (The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation) to reflect on the past and to have a dialogue with our players about these things. That’s how we’re going change everything for the better.”
Colin Ratt, a forward with the Gatineau Olympiques shares the same view. He recognizes that things are changing and going in the right direction. “It is getting better compared to what it was, but there are obviously some things we need to work on in certain areas, and hopefully, make it better for indigenous people”, says the Rapid Lake native.
Like many young indigenous players, he had to work extra hard to make it to major junior hockey. “I felt like, to get noticed, you had to be twice as good. You had to put up pretty good numbers just to attract the attention of scouts.”
The young man played his minor hockey in the Gatineau area. His parents didn’t have the money to enroll him in elite hockey. In his first year of midget hockey, his family decided to send him to Hawkesbury, in Ontario, to allow him to play at a higher level.
Colin Ratt is the first to admit that he had to go through some very difficult situations on the ice over the years.
“I heard a lot of racist remarks from people on the other team, even from the coaches. There was an incident where we were heckled by fans, and they were also using racist slurs towards my teammates and me”, says the Ottawa Senators fan. “I didn’t really think much of it. I was disgusted and hurt, but that’s just one of the things my dad prepared me for.”
Thankfully, things are changing. His two brothers play minor hockey, and they never faced any incidents. “It probably still does happen to some indigenous kids, but things are improving.”
Colin Ratt wants to be a role model for kids in his community. He’s the first to step onto the ice to play with them, when his busy schedule allows him to go home for a few days. He considers his father as his role model as he was growing up. His dad had a very interesting career in minor hockey, averaging more than a point a game.
“He suffered from racism big time back in the day, when he was my age. There was one scout who really liked him, but the coaches were not willing to give him a chance.”
Colin Ratt hopes his hockey journey will impact other indigenous players and convince them to follow in his footsteps.
