HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia legislature played host to a 12-year-old hockey goalie who was recently the victim of a racial slur on the ice.
Tony Ince, the Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, says it was important to show support for Mark Connors because all Nova Scotians should feel respected and should have a sense of dignity and comfort, “no matter where they go.”
Connors was called the n-word during a hockey game in Tantallon, N.S., last month.
Ince says he told the peewee player that he should “keep his chin up” and that all Nova Scotians support him.
A smiling Connors, who plays for the Halifax Hawks, gave Ince his hockey card and Ince gave Connors a copy of “Black Ice,” a book that chronicles an African Canadian hockey league that was formed in Halifax in 1895.
Connors says he enjoyed his visit and it felt “really good” to get the support.
His father, Wayne Connors, says Mark is a bit overwhelmed by the attention, but he called all of the support he’s received since the incident “very nice.”
The Canadian Press