ALL DRESSED UP BUT NOWHERE TO GO

by Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net

No one can say that changes in personnel are not happening fast at Lacrosse Canada.

First the Executive Director (the corporation’s top man) was released, on February 19^th, by a vote of the Board of Directors for important deficiencies in his mandate:

- lack of financial transparency

- lack of communication

- failure to execute Board directives.

These important deficiencies speak for themselves and anyone with any imagination will have understood that the Executive Director was acting as a one man show ignoring the Board of Directors and toying with the corporation’s money as if it was his own and as if he did not need to report to anyone. The minutes of the Board’s February 19^th meeting are available on Lacrosse Canada’s website.

Second, the president of the Board of Directors, Matt Shearer, was removed from his position by a unanimous decision of the Member Council (the provincial presidents). No minutes are available, at this time, from the Member Council’s April 21^st meeting but we can surely imagine that the provincial presidents were holding the president responsible for the corporation’s financial situation and were expressing lack of trust, anger and frustration at the way the corporation was operating by decreasing the provinces’ input, mandates and responsibilities. Lacrosse Canada’s website reported on the Members’ decision but diplomatically did not mention that the president had been unanimously dismissed; it only mentioned a change in leadership!

A unanimous decision from all the provinces is no minor matter; all of Canada involved in lacrosse dismissed the president from his position. The provincial presidents did not dismiss a second fiddle they dismissed their president. As if in the US the Republicans unanimously voted to impeach Donald Trump!

Matt Shearer had really tried to remain in Office; at an April 14^th Board meeting he appointed three new Board members (Trish Chant-Sehl, Alon Eizenman and Carolyn Meacher) to replace Cann and Peryra and mostly he came up, two days before his dismissal, with a two-year strategy to lead the Association towards the future. The timing of ‘’his’’ plan was of the essence in his ‘’quest’’ to remain in Office. It failed.

There are two ways of reporting on this decision; the first one is the diplomatic route mentioning only that there has been a decision to change the leadership; it protects the corporation, the individual and somehow says that the members do not need to know every detail of the situation at hand; you thank the departing officer for his service and you move on. The other route is to simply say things as they are trusting the members to appreciate the situation for what it is and treating them as adults who can cope with factual information pertaining to the dismissal of the corporation’s president. The truth, the whole truth because you respect your members.

Now, Lacrosse Canada has a nine-person Board of Directors; five women and four men. Someone from within this inexperienced group will be appointed as president and the group will endeavor to move forward with a new plan, a new strategy but with the same budget.

Third, it seems that one Board member, Barbara Lockhart, will be leaving her position in September thus creating another opening at the Board of Directors’ revolving door. Someday someone will explain the reasons for her planned departure!

A NEW STRATEGIC PLAN; PREACHING TO THE CONVERTS…AGAIN !

Lacrosse Canada, who already had a strategic plan with ‘’pillars’’ issued its new strategic plan on April 20^th. It is important to read the plan and to appreciate that it is a document presented by the Board of Directors, by the people in charge of governing the game. It has to be interpreted as a collective document, produced and owed by the Board members.

Now is that the case? Or was the document prepared behind closed doors as a strategy to ‘’save’’ the president from his upcoming ‘’judgement’’. Someday someone will explain the situation.

Lacrosse Canada decided to change its mission statement. This is usually done within consulted groups and ‘’thinking committees’’. It was not and we now have a new mission statement: ‘’To lead lacrosse in Canada through strong governance, aligned pathways, respect for its Indigenous origins and collaboration in service of our members’’.

Governance, pathways, respect and collaboration! Very good but there is one word missing in the mission statement; DEVELOPMENT.

Lacrosse Canada’s new strategic plan caters to the converts and is turned inwards; I can’t understand why a marginal sport does not bend over backwards to try to get more Canadians involved in the game. Instead, Lacrosse Canada will endeavor to improve on the quality of services to the existing members and on the support to the National Teams. But nowhere in the new strategic plan do we see even an inkling of concern for those who don’t already play the game; not one word about penetrating the school system where most Canadian kids are; and most Canadian kids don’t play lacrosse!! Many don’t even know what it is.

Lacrosse Canada has elected to leave the task of development and of recruitment of new players to the provincial associations who are not equipped to develop the game.

A HUGE CONCERN ABOUT INTEGRITY

Please read the new strategic plan and look at the values that Lacrosse Canada has pledged to abide by.

Look at INTEGRITY and look at Lacrosse Canada’s definition of integrity. It will kill you.

Integrity: ‘’We honor indigenous origins and foster belonging, inclusivity and connections across all communities’’. That is Lacrosse Canada’s definition of integrity. Don’t laugh; I’m serious. A six year-old kid would have done better.

I don’t know where you stand but my understanding of integrity has to do with the truth, telling the truth and upholding the importance of making a clear definition between what is true and what is false. It’s about being honest, ethical and having steady moral principles. It’s about being incorruptible.

It has nothing to do with honoring the indigenous origins of our sport; it has nothing to do with inclusivity and connections across communities. It has to do with doing what is right without faltering in difficult times. It’s simply about telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

A National Association who chicken’s out when the time has come to define integrity cannot really be trusted when the time will come to tell us what is true and what is false.

Lacrosse Canada, please look us in the eye and tell us that you will review your definition of integrity if you wish that we trust you with anything in the future. Especially, today, with your new strategic plan.