Reckoning with the Past: The Calgary Stampede Requires a Cultural Overhaul
The Calgary Stampede, a venerated organization deeply embedded in our city’s history and social fabric, has recently faced scrutiny over its handling of sexual assault and harassment within its ranks. To move forward, the organization must make a genuine commitment to change.
My research has exposed several factors contributing to the Stampede organization’s suppression of reports of sexual abuse, including its settler colonial origins, more than a century of white, male-dominated leadership, the normalization of inappropriate behaviour, and a notoriously cultish lack of transparency — in combination with broader social stigma surrounding reporting such abuse.
I have long anticipated that the Stampede’s Royalty Program, through which several generations of young women have been chosen to be the organization’s ambassadors, would eventually be exposed as a source of sexual harassment and abuse, launching the Calgary Stampede’s very own #MeToo moment. At which point, the organization that has such an implacable hold over our city would finally be forced to reckon with its long legacy of (among other things) sexism and misogyny.
But instead, the Stampede’s moment of reckoning has come from within the Young Canadians program, where the known survivors were teenage boys preyed upon by a long-time Stampede staffer. The organization’s leadership, as revealed, willfully ignored and suppressed reports for over two decades. That is what happens when adult men sexually exploit young people under the cover of powerful institutions with layers of bureaucracy. Think: Penn State, USA Gymnastics, Gymnastics Canada, and the Catholic Church.
And, now we know, the Calgary Stampede.
In response, the Stampede’s initial claim to ignorance and its eventual lukewarm admission of culpability showed a profound lack of understanding of what must come next. The organization’s unwavering commitment to preserving and promoting Calgary’s “western heritage, cultures, and community spirit” hindered internal self-reflection and upheld the status quo.
Now, the Stampede faces an opportunity for meaningful change as it negotiates a settlement with survivors. To move forward, the organization must undergo a comprehensive internal overhaul that has to include at least the following:
· Leadership Accountability: Stampede executives must be held responsible for their past complacency, possibly through disciplinary actions and/or leadership changes.
· An Organizational Equity Audit: External experts must conduct an independent audit of policies and practices related to sexual assault and harassment to identify gaps and weaknesses, and recommend changes.
· Employee Engagement, Empowerment, and Inclusion: Involve staff and volunteers in the change process and prioritize creating an inclusive and respectful internal culture.
· Training and Education: Provide comprehensive, ongoing, and mandatory training to all staff and volunteers on sexual assault and harassment prevention, bystander intervention, and reporting procedures.
· Formal Monitoring and Periodic Evaluation: Conduct an external equity audit to establish clear metrics to track progress and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented changes.
· Public Transparency: Communicate frequently and openly about specific steps taken to address past negligence and future prevention measures.
· External Oversight: The Calgary Stampede has for too long been allowed to operate independently, one of the consequences of which has been its “colossal failure” over more than two decades to protect children from a sexual predator. Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek, who, along with Ward 11 Councillor Kourtney Penner, sits on the Stampede Board, should establish a community-based public task force to monitor the Stampede’s progress towards organizational change.
Stampede leaders must understand that changing their century-old toxic culture of suppression and secrecy will require consistent effort and genuine commitment at all levels of the organization. To implement the required changes, the Stampede should collaborate with external experts such as Toronto-based, Black woman-owned Turner Consulting Group and/or Calgary-based Canadian Equality Consulting. Additionally, Alberta’s GEDI-Hub and the Queer Education Foundation can offer relevant professional development for Stampede staff and volunteers. A commitment to fair wages for external groups and consultants assisting in the overhaul is essential.
The Stampede’s moment of reckoning must lead to true transformation. By taking the actions enumerated above, the organization can shed its past negligence and embrace a future of inclusivity, accountability, and respect.
It is high time for the Calgary Stampede to step forward and become the community partner it has always claimed to be by setting an example of genuine change for institutions across our city, and across the country.
