Violent hazing occurred in 1980s at Toronto school, alumnus says

Police investigating allegations of bullying and sexual assault

TORONTO — An alumnus of a Toronto private school at the centre of a police investigation into allegations of assault and sexual assault alleges he experienced violent hazing at the institution decades ago.

Jean-Paul Bedard, who attended St. Michael’s College School in the 1980s, said he was prompted to come forward by news that eight students had been expelled and another was suspended in the wake of multiple incidents, one of which involved an alleged sexual assault.

Toronto police sources said one incident, which was captured on video, involved a group of students on the football team pinning down another student and allegedly sexually assaulting him with a broom handle. The sources said another incident involved members of the basketball team bullying a student and soaking him with water.

It’s not known whether any of the alleged incidents involved hazing, but Bedard said that’s what he experienced when he played on the football team after transferring to the school in Grade 9.

“I didn’t realize at the time, but there was a bit of an initiation rite. And I experienced sexualized violence,” said Bedard, now 52, in an interview. “I just dismissed it as ‘boys will be boys,’ and it’s part of the macho culture and all that stuff,” he said. “But then when I saw the story in the news earlier this week at St. Mike’s, I realized — here we are 35 years later, and this is still going on.”

On Friday, the school said it had also reported a third incident but declined to provide details. Police encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

While Bedard remains an elite athlete today — spending his time on the running trail instead of the football field — he has also become an author and an advocate for survivors of sexual violence.

St. Michael’s College School did not respond to requests for comment about Bedard’s allegations, but noted in a statement on its website that the most recent incidents are “unacceptable and fall far short of upholding the principles we strive to live by.”

“As school administrators and educators, we bear a heavy responsibility to help guide our students through a challenging period in their lives — when external forces are often in conflict with the notion of doing the right thing — and these incidents were a stark reminder that we have more work to do,” the school said.

Dave Cooper, an associate professor in the faculty of kinesiology and physical education at the University of Toronto, said hazing — an extreme form of bullying — is nothing new, nor is it uncommon. “The culture of a boys school very strong in tradition and sport, is a very masculine, hegemonic type of culture,” said Cooper, who has been a varsity coach for nearly two decades.

Joseph Gillis, who teaches psychology at the University of Toronto, said he prefers to use the term “ritualized violence” so that such acts aren’t normalized. Gillis said these incidents have a lasting impact on victims and can cause anxiety, depression and social isolation associated with the shame and stigma of being bullied.