Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she’d rather focus on the event and less on the crowd’s lacklustre response to her appearance during the first-ever NHL South Asian Celebration Game, hosted by the Calgary Flames over the Easter long weekend.
Mayor Gondek was booed during her introduction and walk onto the ice to join other dignitaries for a ceremonial puck drop during the March 30 game against the LA Kings. It quickly became a flash point on social media over the weekend.
The mayor, who is a member of Calgary’s South Asian community, said that she went to the game with a great deal of pride and love in her heart for the celebration, and left the celebration with a great deal of pride for what was done by the Calgary Flames organization.
“I want to thank the Calgary Flames organization for having the foresight to celebrate the South Asian community. It was an incredible event. There was an artist to design the custom jersey, there were musicians, there were performances, and there are so many kids in the audience that saw their heritage being celebrated,” the mayor said.
“That’s what I choose to focus on.”
Mayor Gondek said that the “small distraction” did little to overshadow the larger celebration taking place.
“I think it’s important for us to remember that there was a bigger community that was being honoured, and that was the goal of that game. I really appreciated the players showing up before the game wearing the jerseys proudly, and I appreciate everyone in the organization who took the time to do something so beautiful,” she said.
Some critics of the mayor also critical of the crowd’s actions
On X, formerly known as Twitter, user responses varied either in support of Mayor Gondek being booed—with justification based on perception of the mayor’s actions while in office—to criticism of the crowd’s actions.
Not all critics of the mayor supported the booing at the game. Convoy organizer and Tamara Lich, who has been a fierce critic of Mayor Gondek on social media, condemned a posting by Project YYC’s Recall Gondek campaign account about the booing.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this will make me unpopular, but I’m going to say it anyway. I do not care for this woman’s policies, ideology or anything she has done or forced on Calgarians. That said, I have never been one to condone booing and witnessing it has always saddened me. I simply remain silent.”
“At the end of the day, she is still a human being and watching this video makes me feel like crying. We cannot fight hate with hate and expect that we are any better. We cannot fight hate with hate and expect that we can win.”
Mayor Gondek said that in general, the absence of civil discourse has made for something darker.
“There are times that we experienced that as elected officials in this day and age. I think what we need to do is encourage more dialogue,” she said.
“Those of us who are in public service are doing this for the good of the people who elected us, and for the people that we serve. I continue to focus on the work at hand, and the job done.”
