Nathan Kotylak  apologized in a written statement yesterday "I am truly ashamed of what I did."

by Bill McLean

This great evil? Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed to this night?
From The Thin Red Line (1997)

Dear Nathan

Yesterday when I saw your picture on national television, wearing a Canucks jersey with pride as you set a gas tank of a Vancouver police cruiser aflame with chaos in the streets serving as a backdrop, a lot of thoughts and emotions came rushing to the surface.

Like many Canadians, I had the standard initial feelings. Outrage, disgust, anger, dissapointment, resentment. They swept over me like the black and gold tidal wave called the Boston Bruins that engulfed and crashed over your outmatched Vancouver Canucks.

So I was careful not to write too soon. They say you should never write a letter when your angry, so I took a day to figure out exactly what I was feeling.

We were a family. How'd it break up and come apart, so that now we're turned against each other? Each standing in the other's light. How'd we lose that good that was given us? Let it slip away. Scattered it, careless. What's keepin' us from reaching out, touching the glory?

Honestly I'm still not sure. Disappointment  I guess is the most prevalent emotion. See Nathan, if I had read or heard that you were a young man who had not received a decent shake in life, maybe I might have understood.

Perhaps if I was told that Nathan was a kid who had lived a hard life, a youngster who had grown up in poverty, came from a broken home, turned to a life of crime after becoming a person that somehow fell through the cracks of the system and saw nothing good coming in his future, maybe I would have understood.

But obviously that is not the case. You live in a well to do suburb of Maple Ridge, just outside Vancouver, notably one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods in Canada. You're the son of a Doctor, and your an elite Water Polo athlete on your way to the University of Calgary by virtue of an athletic scholarship.

Now I'm sure you've worked very hard to become the elite athlete you are, and you should be commended for your efforts. But essentially, you've lived a very fortunate life and your parents have obviously worked hard to give you the opportunities to be the best Nathan you can be. And I'm sure your life hasn't been perfect. Maybe you had your heart broken by your first crush, maybe you were bullied in Junior High School, maybe one of your parents puts alot of pressure on you.

But these are things that we've all had to deal with, things that we've all had to overcome. And like all people, I'm no saint Nathan. I have my regrets over some harsh things I've done to people, and I've had harsh things done to me. But all these things came within the realm of a normal Canadian life which has been a privilege extended to me by extreme good fortune.

See Nathan, this is what people call a Perfect Storm. On one side, the outrage of a country feeling betrayed by the actions of it's citizens in one of it's most treasured cities. On another, the picture of you torching a police car, a symbol of the protection that is afforded to us that we often take for granted. And finally, hearing that the assailant was a pampered suburbanite and elite athlete who should have no motive whatsoever to strike back against a society that has given them so much,

And this is why your actions on the night of the Vancouver riots are so hard for Canadians to swallow.

Nathan, maybe you've been cheated by never having your parents, or a mentor, or someone explain to you how lucky you are, so allow me to detail a few realities to you.

There are millions of people across this world, millions of young men just like you, who would give anything to be the son of a Doctor living in one the most beautiful cities in the world.

Worse, there are millions of people fighting oppression and tyranny every day, hoping that, if they keep fighting long enough, maybe their next generation of countrymen may get close to being afforded the same privileges that we so blatantly take for granted here in Canada.

Do you get it Nathan?

No, well how about this? There are thousands of Canadian young men, just like you, maybe a year older in some cases, who are fighting overseas to try and help these other countries achieve the same freedoms we enjoy every day. They're in places fighting a war that everybody wishes would end and over one hundred of them have died doing so. Canadians just like you taking their last breaths in the desserts of Afghanistan. Young Canadian men patrolling war torn cities like Kandahar trying to stop violence and chaos, while you patrol the streets of Vancouver, creating it.

Not enough? How about this.

Thousands of young Canadian men, just like you, in some cases younger, gave their lives just six decades ago, on the battle grounds of Europe, so that we can live our lives in freedom. And before that, thousands of Canadians gave their lives on the battle grounds of Europe in World War One. Young men with dreams, families, wives, ambitions, and old friends who they hoped to see one more time on Canadian soil, but instead died on foreign soil an ocean away, surrounded by violence and insanity that the world hopes we'll never see again.

Is this how you thank them Nathan?

You see, with great privilege, comes great responsibility. Nathan, you've been handed the keys to a life that a lot people around the world, and many Canadians, will never be able to have, never even come close to having. You owe it to all these people, and all the people I've mentioned, both living and dead, to make the most of your opportunity.

But, I'm sure you've never been made to realize this, so in a way, you have been cheated. Like a lot of young people in your “self entitlement” generation, apparently you thought that everything you've been handed was your right, and not the privilege it truly is. It's sad that nobody ever explained this to you, but it doesn't make your actions any more comprehensible.

There you were on that fateful night, setting a Police Cruiser on fire, in some random act of defiance against Canadian society, the same society that is the envy of countries all over the world, and the same society that has given you the opportunity to live the type of life millions can only dream of.

Nathan I know your parents are disappointed in you, and that probably makes you sad. But on behalf of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, I want to let you know that were all disappointed in you.

And in the end, regardless of what the courts throw at you, or the suspensions handed down by Water Polo Canada, or if the University of Calgary takes away your scholarship, the shame of an entire country is the price you'll have to pay for your actions, and for that I don't envy you.

But Nathan, there is still hope. You can apologize. Just apologize. One of the most beautiful things about Canadians, and maybe one of our most adorable faults, is that we are forgiving.

People will forgive you Nathan, but you have to make the first move. And I know it will be difficult, and maybe you have people telling you to just let this blow over, but Nathan, please, just apologize.

And then get on with trying to make things right. You're only seventeen years old. You have the chance to dedicate the rest of your life to making up for this mistake. A lot of people never get that chance.

I'll get you started, Nathan.

As disappointed and outraged by your actions as I am....I forgive you.

I sincerely hope your dreams of Water Polo glory come to fruition. I hope you go on to have a successful career as a Dino in Calgary, and I hope someday I'll be cheering for you in the Olympics.

Now a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure
Don't make much for tragedy
But it's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin
And can't stand the company
Every fool's got a reason to feelin' sorry for himself
And turn his heart to stone
Tonight this fool's halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
And I feel like I'm comin' home 

Bruce Springsteen

Bill McLean lives in Dartmouth and is the voice of the Dalhousie Tigers on ssncanada.ca Listen to Bill McLean Sports Show on CKDU 88.1FM and ckdu.ca every Tuesday morning at 10:30. Follow Bill on twitter @sportstream.