Queen's coach fired over comments of Guelph's handling of DST allegations

Freedom of speech doesn't exist in Canada.

Butler Fan wrote:

Freedom of speech doesn't exist in Canada.

This isn’t a freedom of speech issue, this is an employee - employer issue. I may have the right to say a lot of things in Canada, which I do, but my employer also has the right to fire me if they don’t like it Because it makes them look bad by association.

And let’s be clear, he wasn’t simply saying inappropriate sexual relations are bad, he was bullying, harassing, and comparing students, who were likely totally unaware of the situation, to prison camp collaborators. Really not a great look.

AT THESWOOSH wrote:

Canada is so irrelevant in this world and space it's quite amazing...

This

Democracy Now wrote:

the gooch wrote:

Sure the severity of the “crimes” is different, but Boyd always pretends that he’s Mr. principle and “mr. do the right thing.”

If he is openly defying his employer, or openly breaching the explicit or implicit requirements in his employment contract that he not bring disrepute on him or his employer, then he has to take his punishment.

But of course in his view he’s always right, and everyone else is always wrong and there’s no convincing him otherwise.

I feel for the guy, but he really is the architect of his own problems in this case.

So giving your opinion on the Internet is a crime? Man I’m glad I don’t live in Canada.

You will note that the word crimes is in quotes. Of course it isn’t a crime,.

However, there are consequences to giving your opinion, but unless it involves hate speech. It isn’t a crime. Let’s not try to make this more than it is.

Look, I am an oldster fan, and he really does have a great reputation in Canada for his fantastic work with female runners.

Yes, those Facebook comments were out of line, but I don't see him getting canned as an appropriate punishment either.

Butler Fan wrote:

Freedom of speech doesn't exist in Canada.

I am a supporter of Steve Boyd and think his dismissal is way too harsh, but his firing is not about a lack of freedom of speech. He was able to say whatever he wanted to say via media and society (IE, no criminality existed, no edited of his comments was done), but his employer did not think his actions were appropriate for someone in his job.

Let's put this in context and realize that Steve's removal has nothing to do with (the country that is) Canada's freedom of speech!

There is freedom of speech in Canada, just a little different than US. But this firing is not about freedom of speech. Whether or not Boyd violated terms of his employment, that is another thing. I don't think he should have been fired. Someone above wrote that this could be about big donor money with Guelph connection. Follow the money.

uh, not liking what someone says doesn't mean you can make them go away....but then again, we are in the snowflake era where everybody needs a nice ass rub to make them feel better all the time.

Most of the U-sport head coach jobs are full time but maybe not at Queens since they only have a distance program. I am fairly also certain he had another role their in the sociology department at one time.

Also he has a long history of posting online so perhaps he had been warned before? Who knows.

yet another career ended by social media - when will people learn

XCC wrote:

Most of the U-sport head coach jobs are full time but maybe not at Queens since they only have a distance program. I am fairly also certain he had another role their in the sociology department at one time.

Looks like he got schooled on sociology big time.

"I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for..."

Td stocks and bizzcoin wrote:

Unfortunate that he got fired because he was doing an exceptional job with the Queens program. Unlike most of his other coaching acquaintances, he has been very opinionated on message boards and some people have been offended before by his comments. He's like a Don Cherry type. I admire the guy myself but I understand he sometimes gives an impression that he thinks he's always right and anyone who disagrees with him is an idiot; which is offputting, and perhaps considered narcissistic and unprofessional to some. Sounds as if the Guelph team got offended at his antics and collaborated to try and get him fired and it worked.

Funny thing is that Don Cherry probably would have gone off the rails the other way. Victim blaming and defending the Guelph coach. With a side of immigrant bashing for good measure.

XCC wrote:

Most of the U-sport head coach jobs are full time but maybe not at Queens since they only have a distance program. I am fairly also certain he had another role their in the sociology department at one time.

Also he has a long history of posting online so perhaps he had been warned before? Who knows.

He was probably warned a couple years ago (2015?) when he bet one of his athletes would beat an AUS athlete at nationals that year very publicly on Trackie.

Steve Body Timeline:

-Badass runner, great coach and all around very intelligent guy.

-SB uncovers what basically amounted to Guelph bid rigging to host national championships and holds Athletics Canada's feet to the fire on it.

-SB continues to advocate for transparency in an attempt to fix an athletics system that is clearly designed to benefit Guelph above all other Canadian universities.

-DST is suspended.

-DST is fired.

-Globe and Mail Article Drops.

At this point, SB has two options: 1) Sit on his high horse and watch Guelph implode OR 2) Continue to be extremely self-righteous on message boards and facebook in an attempt to further condemn anything and everyone related to the Megan Brown situation.

If he really wanted to have Guelph vacate their championships, he should have attempted to use the proper channels and develop support for the initiative from other universities. Even in defeat his point would be made to some degree.

I hate when smart people get in their own way.

danewrunner wrote:

uh, not liking what someone says doesn't mean you can make them go away....but then again, we are in the snowflake era where everybody needs a nice ass rub to make them feel better all the time.

Uh, actually, if I am your employer, then it certainly can mean that. Not sure where you are getting your information from.

This has nothing to do with snowflakes, it has to do with the last thing any university track program in Canada needs right now is an association with a loose cannon coach (in terms of being overly vocal on the internet) and any hint of controversy.

A university appearing to be involved in a cover-up is controversial. And how does firing someone get them to shut up? Seems more likely to result in him speaking out even more.

"'The university is committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment for its student athletes, and other members of the broader sporting community, of which Queen’s University is a member.' The school said it would not comment further on the matter."

To translate for Queen's University - "Please respect the institutions and people that enabled abusive relationships and unethical behavior to flourish. The university is committed to providing lip service regarding 'a safe and respectful environment for it's student athletes' and willfully neglecting to do so."

Reading between the lines, what Queens university really means: We have had coaches in other sports who had inappropriate relationships with athletes and we did absolutely nothing about it aside from shoving it under the rug.

This is a move to protect the university when abused athletes come forward, just like Guelph.

Queens over AUS wrote:

XCC wrote:

Most of the U-sport head coach jobs are full time but maybe not at Queens since they only have a distance program. I am fairly also certain he had another role their in the sociology department at one time.

Also he has a long history of posting online so perhaps he had been warned before? Who knows.

He was probably warned a couple years ago (2015?) when he bet one of his athletes would beat an AUS athlete at nationals that year very publicly on Trackie.

If I remember he lost that bet too.