by Shanleigh Brosseau, Editor in Chief

Laurentian University has confirmed that Victor the Voyageur, the university’s mascot, is currently under review.  

After not appearing at games or events as of late, the disappearance of VIctor the Voyageur has become noticeable.  

The mascot, a bearded French-Canadian fur-trading voyageur in Laurentian blue and gold, was rebranded in 2013 but has only made sparse appearances at sports games, fundraisers and events in recent years.    

Dr. Serge Demers, Interim Vice-President Academic & Provost said in an email “We have heard concerns from some community members about our mascot, and as with many sports team mascots in North America, we are reviewing it with our stakeholders.” 

“We are currently considering the need for, and the form of Laurentian’s mascot.” 

The university has not said exactly what those concerns are, or which community members brought them forward.  

Varsity athletics’ logos, team names and mascots representing cultures and identities have been a topic of discussion across the country and at some university campuses.   

In April 2019 McGill University in Montreal dropped their controversial varsity name “Redmen” after protests called attention to discrimination and racism.  

‘An issue of representation’ 

Ryan Wildgoose, a Ph.d student in Human Studies at Laurentian University said he first became aware about discussions regarding the mascot during an unrelated anti-racism conference attended by students and university administration in November of 2019.  

“[Victor the Voyageur] does represent a racist history,” Wildgoose said. “It is something that we really should be talking about and re-evaluating in terms of trying to work on anti-racism on our campus.” 

According to Wildgoose, the issue is about representation. He noted the caricature of the mascot, which he said is a stereotypical representation of a French Canadian.  

“Our mascot is a white man [and] we have a very diverse campus,” he said. “Not everybody feels represented by that mascot.”  

“Some schools have a bear or a panther [as a mascot], but there’s a big difference between having a bear as a mascot and a human being,” he said. “Bears aren’t attending Laurentian University but human beings are.”  

“The people who are not white men may not feel that the mascot and [Laurentian Athletics] in general, represent them and then may feel discouraged to participate in athletics,” he added.  

Wildgoose said he realizes the potential pushback from that statement. 

“When that sort of comment comes up, you really have to look at yourself and say, why am I so attached to this culturally insensitive or racist mascot representation?” he said.  

“Why is it so important to me? And why do I not care about how it affects the other the other people in the community?”  

The ‘Laurentian Voyageurs’: Behind a name 

Wildgoose offered insight into the historical relations of the Voyageurs and Indigenous people and the realities of colonization embedded within those relations.  

“The other side of representation is what the mascot itself represents,” he added. “The voyageur is a symbol of colonization.” 

“The Voyageurs were the French people who had come to Canada [and] settled, traded and communicated with Indigenous people,” Wildgoose said. “That’s the history that we generally learned in 8th grade, it’s the version that doesn’t include the genocide and colonization.”  

He noted Laurentian’s tricultural mandate, and that he believes changes to the mascot need to be made to further reflect that.  

“Laurentian has done very well in trying to promote and celebrate Indigenous culture,” WIldgoose said. “And having a mascot that represents the oppression of Indigenous culture is at its core racist.”  

MacKenzie Savard, goalie for the Voyageurs men’s hockey team sports an illustration of Victor the Voyageur on his helmet.  

 “On the one side [of the helmet] I have the mascot, and on the other side I have someone fishing [which is] something I always love to do,” Savard said. “I [also] have my dog because it’s something that means a lot to me.”  

 “When I was growing up, my parents always designed my helmets for me and I always loved it,” he said. “It was something that I could personalize for myself and it was something that kind of gave me a little bit of pride.”  

Savard said he has had included all kinds of personal touches on his helmet throughout his hockey career, as well as team representation. 

 “As much as you’re personalizing it, you’re trying to centre it around the team as much as possible,” he said. “The guys are out there playing in front of me every single night so I like to give them a bit of an option as to what they think would look good on there as well.”  

 One of Savard’s team mates suggested the image of the Laurentian mascot.  

 “I was told that [the mascot] was a touchy subject when I put it on my helmet and that was when I came in two years ago,” he said. “They were removing it from all of the athletics.”  

 The mascot isn’t found on any other team jerseys or equipment, instead many of the varsity athletics jerseys have a simple “V” logo rather than “Voyageurs”.  

“Every time I’m on the ice, I guess as much as I’m wearing a V logo, I see it as the school is behind us and with us on the ice as well,” he said. “We wouldn’t be a team if we didn’t have the university behind us.” 

 “It [the mascot] is something that has some culture with our school, it connects us with our school too,” he said. “And as much as they’re trying to take it out of our sports games, I think it’s something that is kind of cool.”  

 

A piece of Laurentian’s ‘history’ 

“[The mascot] been around for a long time, I don’t personally see a reason that we need to change it but I haven’t heard the [other] side to the reasoning as to why it would be getting changed,” he said. 

According to Savard, the mascot and the Voyageurs brand are a piece of the university’s history. 

“Personally, as an athlete, one of the reasons that I came here [to Laurentian University] was because of the depth and the story behind Laurentian,” he said.  

“I go to the hockey rink and I talk to people [about] when they used to play for the Voyageurs,” he said. 

“It’s been around for so long that how do you take that out of our school at this point?”  

 
“It would be hard to justify that,” he added.  

 
So, where is Victor the Voyageur now?  

According to the university, the mascot is under review and likely will not be used until the university makes a decision. No recommendations or reports regarding the mascot have been made public.  

Laurentian says the process is ongoing and contributions to the discussion are welcomed.