SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Southern Alberta Mustangs--Victims of Tragedy

Honourable senators, today our hearts are heavy with the loss of three young hockey players — Caden Fine, JJ Wright and Cameron Casorso of the Southern Alberta Mustangs junior hockey team — whose lives were tragically cut short while travelling to practice near Calgary.

They were doing what so many young boys and girls do across our country every day: heading to the rink to be with their teammates and play the game they loved. For a parent, there is no phone call more feared and no pain more profound.

At only 17 to 18 years of age, these young men had their whole lives ahead of them. Caden had travelled from Alabama, while JJ and Cameron came from Kamloops, all to be part of a team and a community in Alberta that now mourn them. The void left in their homes and in the Mustangs’ locker room is unfathomable.

Only eight years ago, the province of Saskatchewan saw a similar tragedy when many young players from the Humboldt Broncos hockey team lost their lives. All of us with children, sons and daughters, who play this great sport — and who sometimes travel to faraway places — dread at night during winters and harsh conditions what the outcome might be. I remember many sleepless nights with my wife. My older son played college hockey and my younger son played junior hockey, and they travelled in those wee hours of the night.

On behalf of the Conservative caucus in the Senate — and, I’m sure, on behalf of all senators — I want to extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends, teammates and the entire community of Stavely. Our hearts are with them as they begin to process this unimaginable heartbreak.