"We are not alone, and our voices matter" Mama Stanley

Mama Stanley arrived fashionably late, about 15 minutes after the posted start time. She wore her trademark silver sequined dress, with the matching bowl on her head. She wore a necklace with a large “believe” pendant. Before speaking to the crowd, she had a helper touch up the silver makeup on her face.

A group of 100 protesters met her in a procession line across the street from Rogers Place Saturday night, where the Edmonton Oilers were to meet the Winnipeg Jets to begin their home pre-season schedule. Mama Stanley, who for years has been maybe the most recognized superfan in Oil Country, walked the line and hugged supporters. She shook hands as the chants rang out:

“Formie’s got to go, no means no.”

The “Formie” in question is Alex Formenton, the speedy forward who the Oilers signed as a free agent and made his pre-season debut Saturday. He is making an NHL comeback with the Oilers after being found not guilty of an alleged sexual assault in a London, Ont., hotel room.

The protesters’ signs were not forgiving of Formenton or the Oilers’ decision to sign him.

“Acquitted does not equal innocent.” “Drunk isn’t consent.” “Acquitted fourth liner over lifelong fans … really, Bowman?”

The rage was not echoed inside of Rogers Place. In the arena, not one fan heeded a protester’s call to “show that m—f— that no means no.” His first shift on the ice was not greeted with anything but silence from a sleepy Rogers Place pre-season crowd. It was the polar opposite of the crescendoes of “no means no” that greeted Vegas Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart in North Carolina during the Stanley Cup Final.

Formenton was cheered when he broke in on goal and scored in the second period.

Formenton, Hart and three other players from the 2018 Canadian World Junior team faced sexual assault charges stemming from an incident in a London, Ont. hotel room. They were all acquitted after the judge highlighted inconsistent testimony from the complainant, “E M.” Justice Maria Carroccia ruled that the Crown did not prove that the sex between the complainant and the accused wasn’t consensual.

Hart was the first to return to the NHL and got to the Cup Final. Formenton and Dillon Dube, who was signed by the St. Louis Blues, look sure to get back to NHL action. Michael McLeod has signed in Russia and Cal Foote remains a free agent.

In August, Hockey Canada lifted Formenton’s suspension, but the four others still cannot represent Canada in international competitions. But, the independent panel commissioned by Hockey Canada ruled that all five players had breached the national association’s code of conduct.

Formenton’s signing by the Oilers has met with some vocal opposition, and Mary Loewen, the woman behind the Mama Stanley costume, has been the loudest critic of all. Loewen launched a petition beseeching the Oilers to reverse the Formenton signing, which is closing in on 70,000 signatures. A petition on the same change.org website calling for fans to support the signing of Formenton has earned just over 100 signees.

Loewen took to the megaphone not to cheer the Oilers, but to embrace her newfound role as the team’s biggest critic.

“We are standing here peacefully today because survivors have spoken,” she said over cheers. “Fans have pleaded with (GM Stan) Bowman and the Oilers to listen, and this organization has chosen to move forward as though our voices do not matter. Saying they are comfortable with their decision does not comfort survivors who still feel ignored, dismissed and betrayed. Telling us they conducted due diligence is not the same as showing accountability.

“But I want you to do something right. Do something right now. Look around. Look at all of us. We are not invisible. We are not alone, and our voices matter.”

Charlene Mack is a lifelong Oilers fan. She still cherishes her Esa Tikkanen jersey. But she said Formenton’s signing was triggering for her. She said she is a survivor of sexual violence, and understands what women go through when they take the stand in court. She said earlier this year she faced days of cross-examination, and felt like a victim rather than an accuser.

“I think the signing dismisses what a lot of survivors have gone through,” said Mack. “I was on the stand for five days. One day I was testifying, and four days I was cross-examined, and it was brutal. It was so unkind and traumatizing. I think the Oilers signing Formenton is another trigger for domestic violence survivors, victims of intimate-partner violence, for sexual assault survivors, and that’s not something that’s small.”

After the game, Formenton repeatedly said he felt “welcomed” to Edmonton by both the team and fan base. And he said he is so focused on his return to the NHL, that he isn’t paying attention to the clamour from those who want to see his contract terminated.

“To be honest, I have been laser focused on trying to make this team and to get better every day,” he said. He added that he’s still wants to “fit into whatever role that I have on this team, and trying to perfect that.”

And when pressed again about the petition and protest, he answered: “My main focus is getting better here, and I want to do everything possible to make the most out of this opportunity.”

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