The Stew Pot will appear in this space from time to time with my $.02 on the issues of the day. Comments are welcome (I have thick skin).

What are they thinking at Hockey Canada?
Hockey Canada has been all over the news not just because there have been sexual assaults in Canadian junior hockey, but because it has been revealed they had 2 slush funds for payouts when sexual assaults occur. To say junior hockey in this country has some culture problems is the understatement of the year. In the face of public and media outrage, and politicians up to and including the Prime Minister demanding the board resign, they have dug their heels in. Even Hayley Wickenheiser has called for a leadership change: “I spent 23 years of my life around Hockey Canada and it’s beyond disappointing and disgraceful what I’ve seen.” Sponsors from corporate Canada are dropping Hockey Canada like a hot potato. Soon, nobody will deal with this board and they will be forced to resign, as they ought to have done weeks ago.

Does everybody cheat at everything?
On The Agency Podcast, Candy Minx and I have been talking about the cheating scandal in chess centred around a young Grand Master, Hans Niemann. Chess.com has come out with a report which points to Niemann cheating far more and far more recently than he has admitted. At the US Chess Championships they have upped security, and I watched a video the other day showing an official thoroughly scanning Niemann very, very thoroughly. As of this writing, Niemann is doing pretty well in the tournament, winning his first game and drawing the second.

Meanwhile, a cheating scandal has rocked the competitive fishing world as well. It was a Lake Erie walleye tournament, with nearly $29,000 in prize money. Jacob Runyan and his fishing partner Chase Cominsky allegedly stuffed lead balls down the throats of their catch to increase the weight. I suppose among fishermen, lying about the size of the catch is a time honoured tradition, but the fibbing has to stop when their is big money at stake.

There is even a cheating scandal brewing in the Irish dancing community.

“In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, the Irish Dancing Commission said its ethics committee had received “allegations, with supporting documentation, of several grievous breaches of our Code of Conduct” in July of this year”.

Are there any sports or games that are free of cheating? I don’t know. Over the years there have been several cheating scandals in the duplicate bridge world. There has been cheating in soccer, plenty of cheating in baseball, cheating in American football. Then there is bicycle racing, where Lance Armstrong denied cheating for years until he was caught. There has even been cheating in the comtemplative game of Go, especially online, and anyone who plays Go online will tell you that sandbaggers are common. I know I’m missing many sports and games here. It seems us humans are incapable of fair play.

Evan Solomon jumps ship.

Evan Solomon is leaving Bell Media to take a job in America. I listened to his radio show on Newstalk 1010 semi-regularly. Although some days it seemed he got all DEFCON 1 about sleepy issues on slow news days, I think he did a good job, and he was certainly a shining light in the Bell empire. Now that they’ve trashed Lisa LaFlamme (that’s another sad story for another time), they need all the talent they can get. It seems Bell is having a very bad year. For Mr. Solomon, he’s off to have a new adventure. I’m sure it is a tremendously exciting time for him, and I wish him well.

Biden to pardon federal weed convictions
The same needs to be done here in Canada. Weed has been legal here for a few years now, and the PM should make a move very soon to make similar pardons happen here. Meanwhile, the provincial government here really butchered the rollout of weed shops in this province. They gave out far and away too many permits for weed shops. They’re everywhere, and while some new ones continue to open up, it appears many are starting close around the city. Meanwhile, all these shops have to buy from the “Doug-store” at the same prices.

Misogynistic hidden tags on Poilievre videos
This is scary. The Conservative Party of Canada leader, Pierre Poilievre has denied knowing about the tags and has had them removed. Meanwhile in recent months Poilievre has been linked to extremists like DIAGOLON and was on the street chatting with extremists during the illegal occupation of Ottawa.

I get the that Torys are getting desperate to win an election but the rise of Pierre Poilievre is very scary to me. Next election, be careful how you vote please.

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