Canadian Olympics CEO accused of abuse of native Indian children

Lokionline - exactly. That same reasoning has me wondering as well. Well said.

All of us who were in school in Dublin at the time John Furlong attended St. Vincent's Christian Brother School know the kind of daily abuse handed out by the various teaching orders there - it is well documented. That was the modelling Furlong had been exposed to prior to his traveling to Prince George in 1969 fresh out of school and with no formal training, to teach elementary school age native children. That alone doesn't mean Furlong abused anyone, but if you leave out that period in your autobiography and then fly into a snit the way Furlong has when asked about that, then you have to wonder.

I attended a Catholic school in NY from 1952 to 1960 and the physical abuse of the students was way over the top. Boys, in particular, were hit, punched, kicked, had their ears pulled, were stuck on the knuckles with rulers. The worst case I saw was one student who had a very bad speech disability...one day the nun lost her patience with him and pulled him out of his seat and repeatedly banged his head against the blackboard because he refused "to speak properly." He never returned to the school and his parents never set foot in the door of a church again. BTW...if your parents found out that you were hit in school, you got another beating from them for misbehaving, no questions asked, for the most part. It was the times we were living in. Frankly, I found it just as bad when our 3rd grade nun told us, "Every time you commit a sin, you drive the crown of thorns deeper into Jesus' head." Imagine living with that thought when you were 10 years old!

Who knows where the truth is. I hope the man is innocent. I can say this from personal experience, this type of abuse (and worse) was rampant in Irish schools in the 1950's and 60's. I was there and I saw it and I am sure he did too. Maybe one day the physical abuses of children in Irish schools will get looked into. I hope so.

This is a very balanced, well-written, article. It's welcome, too, to see the original research it contains. Unfortunately the Canadian press is, for the most part, failing to inform the public of the issues. Instead, it's timidly acting as a PR service for John Furlong's pronouncements. Laura Robinson, the journalist who's uncovered the scandal, has a sterling reputation. She's previously written a ground-breaking book exposing abuses at Maple Leaf Gardens - a Canadian sports institution, as well as researching one of the most famous investigative sports stories for the "fifth estate", Canada's premiere tv newsmagazine. Anyone who doubts her credentials as a reporter doesn't know her background.

No facts, just a lot of accusations.

Sounds too much like a money grab scheme. Interviews and the book deal...followed by the movie.

Another non story by IC. The accusatory headlines roar and the story fizzles. Bullshit!