LandInSights, a Quebec-based aboriginal rights group, reported International Olympic Committee Canadian representative Dick Pound to the IOC ethics committee for allegedly making racist comments in his August interview with La Presse, the Globe and Mail reported Oct. 18.
When asked about the IOC’s decision to choose Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games amidst China’s human rights controversies, Pound said Canada was a “land of savages” in the 17th century and that it should be “prudent about [its] great experience of three or four centuries before telling the Chinese how to manage China.”
Pound said he used the word “savage” as a historical term and that his remarks were taken out of context.
First Nations of Quebec Chief Ghislain Picard, along with other prominent Aboriginal leaders, are asking Pound to resign from his position as chancellor of McGill University.
Although Pound’s choice of wording was completely inappropriate, he should not be punished for attempting to make a valid criticism of Canada’s history of marginalizing Aboriginal peoples.
During his term as IOC vice-president, Pound pushed for anti-doping policy and made strides in cleaning up Olympics sports.
It would be a shame for the IOC to lose his input in the event that he was forced to resign over a misunderstanding.
One way to interpret his remark is that, by invoking the historical term “savage,” Pound was making a tongue-in-cheek comment about how unfounded the term was.
If this is the case, his response legitimately chastises Canadians into ing their own history before judging the present Chinese regime.
This isn’t the first time Pound has made questionable comments; in 2006, he told the press that he thought at least one-third of National Hockey League players were using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He later said he had invented the percentage, the New York Times reported Jan. 7, 2007.
With such a record of controversy, it’s possible that Pound is characteristically brusque and tactless.
Although Pound should have apologized for his offensive term immediately after using it, given the delay, any apology he makes now would be empty.
The chosen were offensive but refusing to accept the point as an ugly historical reality in Canadian society is also wrong. Pound should have known better but Canadians should also know their history better.
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