As Black History Month draws to a close, Nanaimo RCMP Staff Sgt. Donovan Tait reflected on what that means to him while growing up and serving in the RCMP. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

Black history

Nanaimo Mountie and hockey coach praises the game for making him feel at home

Feb 27, 2021 | 7:00 AM

NANAIMO — Black History Month has a different meaning for Donovan Tait compared to challenging experiences many others have had.

The veteran Nanaimo RCMP officer and fixture in the local hockey community said he always felt embraced while growing up in Port Albeni.

Being welcomed into the blue collar logging town is a feeling of warmth Tait continues feeling decades later in Nanaimo.

“I’ve always been accepted and treated just like everybody else,” Tait, 50, told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Tait was born in Kitimat after his father accepted a work exchange from Jamaica to an aluminum smelter plant seemingly a world away on BC’s central coast.

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Tait excelled growing up playing hockey and gained valuable leadership skills while suiting up for rep programs in Port Alberni, junior hockey in Parksville and finally the university level.

“The hockey community on Vancouver Island and where I started in Port Alberni was a very soft place for me and my family to land and really become introduced to Canadian culture.”

Tait said bluntly, despite his positive experiences racism is a serious issue that can’t be ignored.

He said the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minnesota in 2020 spawned progressive discussions with family and colleagues.

The respected staff sergeant is an experienced trained crisis negotiator continually giving back while off duty.

Tait told said RCMP members often entrench themselves into the local minor hockey scene to help mold the next generation of leaders.

“The rink is central to a lot of these communities that’s where you reach out not only to the youth and other folks around you. It’s a nice marriage between work and what I love to do, I really feel blessed.”

Tait coaches his own children’s minor hockey teams in Nanaimo, while also serving as the assistant coach of the VIU Mariners hockey squad.

Nanaimo Minor Hockey president Brad Knight said Tait has been an invaluable asset to the local hockey scene.

“Donovan is a great guy,” Knight said. “He’s done so much for Nanaimo Minor Hockey and has asked for nothing in return.”

Tait, a dual Canadian-Jamaican citizen, even played at the age of 49 to help Jamaica win the Latin American Cup in Florida in 2019.

He’s spent the past decade working with other Jamaican hockey advocates to raise the game’s profile in the Caribbean nation.

Tait said having the first ever hockey arena built in Jamaica would go a long way in building a game with a lot of love to give.

“I really see hockey as a gift,” Tait said. “My parents had the opportunity to to immigrate to Canada and I would like to give that back to Jamaica.”

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @NanaimoNewsNOW