Matt Pearce touched many lives in many different ways before his untimely death this weekend. A longtime teacher, a former president of the Prince George District Teachers Association, a member of the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame, winner of a Grey Cup and a Vanier Cup during his football career and a frequent letter writer to The Citizen over the years on a host of issues.
Below is Pearce's final letter to The Citizen, published in the Aug. 6 print edition, as well as a tribute from one of his former students, Citizen columnist Nathan Giede.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
Editor:
Now that the federal election period has begun it is a good time to reflect on the value of our democracy and recent events that have threatened to diminish the freedom and power of one citizen one vote.
As you read this letter a former Conservative MP and a former conservative staffer occupy jail cells as a result of election fraud in the last election. Running afoul of election law and Elections Canada resulted in successful convictions.
One unexpected result of these convictions is that Elections Canada was barred from having the power to subpoena witnesses in any future investigations. The government legislation that denied this power to Elections Canada also prevented Elections Canada from promoting voting.
Can you imagine?
At a time when election participation is at all time lows the government has passed legislation to prevent effective investigation of fraud and to assure lower voter participation. In addition to those anti-democratic measures voter ID laws have been passed to prevent virtually non-existant participation by ineligible voters. Of course the real purpose of voter ID laws is to lower the participation of the poor and minorities. Similar laws have been passed for generations in the American South by right of centre parties wishing to suppress votes of more left-leaning minority voters.
Regardless of which party you might consider voting for this fall I urge you to vote for democracy first and send the message to your Conservative candidate that anti-democratic laws and election fraud will not be tolerated by those who value our rights in our democracy.
-- Matt Pearce, Prince George
Matt Pearce, whom I will always remember as Coach Pearce or simply Coach, passed away this past weekend. I was shocked when I heard the news, and over the last few days I've taken some time to recall playing football for him in fall 2007. While I was only a member of the Condors for a single season, and unable to play for the latter half due to an injury, my time on the field and the sidelines with Coach Pearce still remain some of my fondest memories of high school.
I don't claim to have had a special relationship with Coach Pearce. Many of my fellow teammates had been on the team longer than I, and honestly it was my only year as a member of any high school team. But even as a new, untried recruit, I felt motivated to perform for Mr. Pearce, not out of a fear of failure, but because his own love for the game was so infectious. Our coach wanted us to work hard, and we wanted to work hard for him, which lead us to victory.
After I turned an ankle at practice and ended up on crutches, I expected Coach Pearce to tell me to stay home. Instead, I ended up hobbling behind him up and down the field on game days, carrying a clipboard and even fetching his on occasion when he really didn't like a call that had been made. He cared passionately about his players, on and off the field; and as far as he was concerned, I still had a part to play if I was up to it - which I was.
The final game took place in snowy conditions, and resulted in a 2-0 win for the Condors. It was certainly not the most glorious of scores for a final, but that didn't matter to our coach. Mr. Pearce was happy with his team's performance, almost uncontainably so. His passion radiated out from him as we lined up to shake our opponents' hands, and in the ensuing weeks, I don't think I saw him stop smiling once through the halls of our school.
After graduation, I bumped into Coach Pearce occasionally, and his excitement to see a former player never seemed to diminish, a fact that I always found deeply humbling. While recovering from sprints on the track at the Northern Sport Center last Thursday, I saw Coach Pearce on the treadmill. I was out of breath, and so I waved as I walked by. He looked over and smiled at me, then turned his head and looked straight on as he increased the machine's speed.
That is how I will always remember this great man: friendly, encouraging, disciplined and unwavering. We have truly lost a living legend and the personal hero of many, myself included, in his passing. My prayers go out to his family and friends in this difficult time.
Goodbye and rest in peace, Coach Matt Pearce.
-- Nathan Giede
