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Maple Leaf legend Wendel Clark welcomes refugees to Sault (10 photos)

Refugees, police officers take part in friendly ball hockey tournament as part of Passport to Unity festivities

If you want to welcome refugees to our country in truly Canadian style, it doesn’t get much better than this!

Retired Toronto Maple Leaf legend Wendel Clark was on hand to welcome refugee families to take part in friendly ball hockey competitions outside The Machine Shop Monday as part of Passport to Unity festivities.

Clark was accompanied by Carlton the Bear, the Toronto Maple Leafs mascot, and corporate employees from the team.

Approximately 100 refugees who have resettled in Sault Ste. Marie (most of them, but not all, from Syria) participated in ball hockey with men and women of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, OPP, RCMP and the 49th (Sault Ste. Marie) Field Regiment.

“There’s no better way to welcome people to Canada than by introducing them to hockey…where I grew up in Saskatchewan, if you want to find somebody on any winter day, you start at the skating rink,” Clark told a large, cheering outdoor audience

“With the inner city of Toronto changing a lot now, and since I retired in 2000, and working with the organization on the community side (as an ambassador for the team involved in several charitable initiatives), we do a lot of introducing of people to Canada and the game of hockey,” said Clark, speaking to SooToday.

“It’s a great part of our culture, it’s the friendliest part, maybe not on the ice all the time (Clark grinned), but a sense of community comes from hockey and the whole atmosphere of the rink,” Clark said.

Clark is now 50 and is a former Leafs captain, who last visited the Sault for a book signing Nov. 16.

Among the new arrivals enjoying Monday’s festivities was Alaa Oughli, 28, originally of Damascus, Syria.

A former sales manager, he arrived with his wife and daughter in the Sault three months ago after spending three years in a refugee camp in Egypt.

“This is my dream, I dreamed to come to Canada,” Oughli said, who is currently brushing up on his English language skills before seeking employment. 

“I enjoy hockey, I’m learning now and I enjoy it…thank you to the Canadian people,” Oughli smiled.

“We learn about refugees and they learn about Canada, everybody learns something at an event like this,” said Sault Police Sergeant Mark Dubas, who helped arrange and organize the Sault Police and Toronto Maple Leafs involvement in Monday’s event. 

“This is important because these families have suffered so much and lost so much and I wanted to be involved in helping, in providing safe haven and a welcome,” said Jeffrey Broadbent, a local lawyer who has been a prime mover behind assistance of refugees locally and another key organizer behind Monday’s event.

 

 

 

 


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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