Senators Sports and Entertainment (SSE) is pleased to announce the formation of a new cabinet designed to foster authentic engagement and a stronger sense of belonging with various communities in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

The Senators are particularly focused on ensuring strong engagement with both French and English Canadians and importantly the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation whose Traditional Territory hosts the Senators’ operations.

The Senators have engaged respected community members representing these communities to work in collaboration with the Senators to assist them in developing and implementing strategies to ensure their communities feel a strong sense of welcoming and belonging.

The Cabinet will act as a recommendation body to ensure Senators Sports and Entertainment is appropriately and respectfully handling cultural and heritage endeavors involving the organization.Currently, the Cabinet is comprised of the following individuals:

• Claudette Commanda
• Jim Durrell
• Martin Paquette
• Wanda Thusky
• Kirby Whiteduck
• Jeff Westeinde is also acting in a facilitator role with the Cabinet to ensure a balance of viewpoints and guide the Cabinet’s agenda.

“We are extremely proud to launch a community advisory group that reflects and amplifies the diversity of our region, including French, English and Indigenous voices,” says Erin Crowe, Ottawa Senators CFO and COO. “We want our communities to feel a strong sense of belonging and that can only be achieved if we invite them to the table to be active participants alongside us.”

“We are very pleased that the Senators have engaged the Algonquin community in their Community Cabinet,” says Claudette Commanda. “The Senators are demonstrating a true dedication to ensuring our culture is suitably represented and showcased in their activities in our region.”

The Cabinet has been influential in several initiatives, including new signage inside the Canadian Tire Centre to include French and Algonquin greetings for fans who are entering and exiting the building. The Cabinet also helped guide a day of training for SSE employees in September to further awareness and better equip staff in their initiatives involving the Indigenous community. The Cabinet is also providing feedback on elements of the team’s Indigenous Culture Celebration on November 14.

“Over the past year, new ownership of the Senators has shown their commitment to deepening their relationships within the Gatineau fan base in a meaningful way,” says Martin Paquette. “I am pleased to contribute to these efforts through the Community Cabinet and I look forward to seeing the continued benefits of these initiatives within the Gatineau and francophone communities.”

In Gatineau, the Cabinet was instrumental in launching a handful of initiatives, including a full team practice for the Senators at the Slush Puppie Centre during training camp, increased social and digital posts in French, building French language capacity within the team and training of gameday staff on French service expectations. As a result of feedback from the Cabinet, bilingual staff will be identifiable at games to better serve our francophone fans.

The Community Cabinet recently gathered inside Canadian Tire Centre in October and will meet on a quarterly basis.