Lift the rock.
Shine the light.
Dare whatever’s under there to go about its business as usual.
That might well be the motto of Canadian Soccer News, now that Alberta’s been liberated, and the CSA reform fight is barreling into the final two weeks of the home stretch.
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Perspective, of course, is quickly needed. Canadian Soccer News is NOT the reason Mario Charpentier’s tyrannical, self-centred reign of error was coldly terminated by the enraged membership of the Alberta Soccer Association in an angry corner of the Crown Edmonton Plaza Hotel on Friday morning.
Charpentier lost because after he seized power from elected president Chris Billings last February, he bullied, fired, intimidated and suspended far too many people – and entire districts.
A judge had to step in and order him to finally hold a special general meeting, where a neutral chairman ruled clearly and consistently in favour of the reformers all morning long. The chairman even ruled that a two-thirds majority wasn’t needed to remove Charpentier and his directors. Didn’t matter. All seven of the evicted were bounced by better that two-thirds of those concerned.
It is, in all sad likelihood, not over. If I were a courtroom in Edmonton, I’d be expecting to hear from Mario Charpentier’s lawyers on Monday.
When I first started writing about all this, back in early December, the concerned Albertans I approached were scared. Angry? You bet! But they didn’t want to raise their heads and make a public stir. Flat place, Alberta. Not a lot of spots to hide out there.
My first crack at explaining and exposing this mess generated over 300 comments. That’s five times more than any story I have ever written, in more than a decade of regular work. And as the stories continued, and as Charpentier and his CSA director-at-large alleged-enabler Mike Traficante continually refused to answer any of my questions, Canadian Soccer News became somewhat of a rallying point for the anti-Charpentier reformers.
CSN wasn’t alone, of course. Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal had been all over this story from the outset. His stories were passed on in the Voyageurs message board – where the discussion thread is closing in on has reached an astonishing 250 pages! An excellent independent website, Reform Alberta Soccer, collected and published every key document in the dispute.
The more I wrote, the more Albertans started feeding me stuff. In the past week or two, each significant find, revelation or development was signaled by a burst of activity in my e-mail inbox.
And, through it all, I never received any input – ANY! – from either the Charpentier side, or the Canadian Soccer Association.
That really became a problem when CSA president Dominique Maestracci sent an error-filled letter to Charpentier last Tuesday. That letter – and damn right, it was loudly published right here – was, I think, the final straw for many.
Maestracci told Charpentier he could not be removed at the SGM. The good people – and justice system – of Alberta clearly knew better.
All of this has implications going forward.
CSA governance reform comes up for a final vote in two weeks. One version – the first that will be voted on – eliminates all provincial and territorial soccer association presidents from the CSA board, replacing them with – gasp! – experienced professional soccer and business people.
There are also compromise plans in play. They’re clear improvements over the status quo, but they don’t go all the way.
(Charpentier, by the way, supported the compromise. Billings, had he been allowed to, would have voted for real reform. Dominique Maestracci – well, you can put it together from there.)
The fight, now, is to get the first reform package passed. There is no sound soccer-related reason to say no. The compromise models serve only political and personal influence – exactly the omnipresent obstacle that has undermined Canada’s national soccer teams for generations.
Much more on all of that to follow.
I want to close with a direct appeal to the Canadian Soccer Association:
Guys. Hi.
I know some of you have issues with my Alberta and governance stories. I know there are times when my facts and your facts don’t line up.
Please talk to me.
Why did I have to find out about the compromise governance model through a couple of anonymous messages buried deep in the comment pile of the first Alberta story? Why are you angry that I know Alberta and Quebec voted against the original plan, and in favour of the compromise?
Yeah, yeah. That was supposed to be a secret.
Well, it isn’t – and it won’t be.
Canadian Soccer News is not going away. Too many people talk to us. If you don’t, we can’t add you voices – and wisdom – to the mix.
I want to know when I’m wrong, dammit. And I can’t take correction from you if you won’t talk to me.
I’ve been throwing bombs at you guys for a decade, and all I’ve got is one very strange phone call from Kevan Pipe, occasional clarifications from Richard Scott, and an amusing, thoroughly enjoyable argument in the BMO Field pressbox with your second-string media guy – whom I’ve come to like and respect very much as a result.
This governance fight is crucial to untold thousands of ardent, intelligent soccer fans across the nation, and Canadians around the globe – players included.
The days of Canada’s soccer business being conducted in secret are over. Gone. Finito.
If you don’t think your side is being adequately reported or understood, from here on in that’s your own darn fault for staying silent.
I’m doing my very best. We all are.
For the good of everyone involved in this desperately needed bid for governance reform, let’s hear from you.
First – and hugely important – question:
What was Dominique Maestracci thinking when he wrote that letter to Mario Charpentier?
Onward!