Greg Gilhooly
@GregGilhooly
Dad, Graham James survivor, very tall, Princeton, UofT Law, lawyer but NOT the Ottawa lawyer with the same name. Non-negotiable: be civil, kind, respectful.
Consider a world where when it’s “he said, she said”, both she and he have to testify and must face a similar level of cross-examination.
I don’t know what did or didn’t happen. I have no idea whether it was the right or wrong decision because I wasn’t in the room that night and don’t know what happened, and nobody else does either. But I am genuinely concerned for E.M.’s well being coming out of this.
Hockey Canada has taken good steps to improve its culture. More needs to be done, but Hockey Canada should be applauded for moving in the right direction. Today’s decision doesn’t mean that that hockey culture doesn’t need to change so situations like this don’t happen.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is clear. There was a lack of character in that room. Nobody stepped up and said “I don’t care what she’s saying, this isn’t right, we should be better than this.” Even if there may have been consent, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Tomorrow will yield only a legal result. Not any truth, not justice, just the product of a process with rules that restrict what the state can do before potentially sanctioning an accused. Only those who were there know the truth, and even they themselves may not really know.
People are talking about sentencing. Just a reminder that our system initially gave Graham James two and a half years for hundreds of sexual assaults, and reduced it to two years because of the public shame he endured. It was increased to five years on appeal. C’mon man.
People think a government needs to be defeated or an elected official needs to be replaced, and that change will make everything better. What really needs to change is something different. We all just need to be better people, there needs to be more compassion and mutual respect.
Sometimes a Stanley Cup chase isn’t the most important thing going on within a team.
People remember the players acquired who made a difference. They forget the players who lost their place in the family.
May we all just do our best to try to be our best, and things will eventually tend towards better. Or so we hope. Still, while we can’t control what happens, we can control our own actions and reactions.
Enough is enough. I’m not a monster for saying this is wrong. I’m not a monster to say what’s best for him should not matter in these circumstances. Our system suffers for this misplaced compassion by inflicting real harm on the victims. The harm is real. apple.news/AVtqI8L4IQCS6W…
In an era of unbelievably talented players, it’s ridiculous how good McDavid is to stand out like he does.
Don’t watch this trial as if it’s a sport event. It’s a process against the accused, not anything to do with truth or justice for any victim. We weren’t there, we don’t know what happened, and we shouldn’t be cheering for anybody.
It’s not a justice system, it’s a legal results system with rules that protect the accused in a process that assesses whether or not the state can sanction the accused. The victim is just a witness in that process. No victim can ever get justice from such a system.
The legal system yields legal results pursuant to very important and necessary legal rules. It has nothing to do with truth, justice, or fairness. Victims shouldn’t expect anything from a system not designed for them. Victims are just witnesses against an accused, nothing more.
The thing about sexual assault and abuse cases? We’re just witnesses, we give our evidence, and the trial moves on. That’s the real problem. We have no standing in a criminal matter. If only we could examine and cross the accused ourselves.
Not to be alarmist, but store shelves are starting to look a little less full.
There are so many experts on so many platforms. It’s jarring to hear someone you’ve listened to finally speak to something you actually know a bit about and realize they really have no idea what they’re talking about. Chances are they’ve had no idea all along.
For so many good reasons we go so far to protect those who commit crimes and cause risk to the community, but we often forget to stand up for the community too. It doesn’t make me a monster to say we need to do more to take risks off the street and keep them off the streets.
I love Canada. I love my fellow Canadians who vote differently than I do. We’re all in this together. Neither side “hates our country” just because we think differently. The tone, the rhetoric, it’s too much.
People either loved that apple interview or they didn’t. Either way, it cemented feelings. Fascinating.