Difficult road to a ‘beautiful place’ In memoir, sportscaster Scott Oake recounts his son’s death and the rise of a recovery centre in his name By: Ben Sigurdson Posted: 4:50 PM CST Monday, Jan. 20, 2025

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Over the course of nearly 50 years as a broadcaster, Scott Oake’s wry, witty and insightful commentary at the Olympic Games and as a Hockey Night in Canada contributor has elevated him to the pantheon of Canadian sports journalism greats. But none of Oake’s successes prepared him for the struggles of a family member struggling with addiction.

In his new book For the Love of a Son: A Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Hope, co-written with Edmonton author Michael Hingston, the 71-year-old Oake details his son Bruce’s spiral into drug use and eventual overdose death in 2011 at age 25. The memoir also covers the establishment of the Bruce Oake Foundation and Bruce Oake Recovery Centre by Oake and his wife Anne; as well as Anne’s death in 2021, months after the centre opened its doors.

Oake launches the book Tuesday evening at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location, where he’ll be joined in conversation by Shelagh Rogers. Proceeds from the book’s sales will go towards the foundation, now named for both Bruce and Anne.

Oake was initially approached by a book agent about writing about his career.

“My response to that was ‘not a chance’ — I wouldn’t subject anybody to that book,” Oake says, laughing, while discussing his memoir in one of the recovery centre’s light-filled meeting rooms. A photo of Oake and his son hang on a nearby wall.

“I did tell him I would have an appetite to write a book that told Bruce’s story, and explained how the centre got built.”

He was put in touch with Hingston, who worked with Oake to hone 80-90 hours of conversations into book form. “He did a spectacular job. I’m really indebted to him for the time he took,” Oake says.

For the Love of a Son follows the Oakes as they welcome two boys to the world — first Bruce and then, two years later, Darcy. As Bruce got older, his behaviour became more volatile, and he was eventually diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette syndrome. Bruce immersed himself in boxing and rap music, but his increasingly reckless path led to more dangerous drug use.

Scott and Anne helped Bruce get into various treatment programs, with varying degrees of success, but on March 28, 2011, four days after being kicked out of his second stint at Calgary’s Simon House Recovery Centre, he died of an overdose.

For Oake, detailing Bruce’s life in book form brought no relief.

“It was hard, really hard. Some people might think it was cathartic, but it wasn’t,” he says. “Cathartic is a psychological release through a lot of emotion. It was nothing like that; reliving Bruce’s journey through the written word, especially the last four or five years of his life, was incredibly difficult.”

Oake was adamant his son’s story be shared with those who might be grappling with the same struggles. “The whole motivation behind the book was people would know that they’re not alone. A lot of families are going through struggles like we did,” he says.

“The whole motivation behind the book was people would know that they’re not alone. A lot of families are going through struggles like we did.”– Scott Oake

“One of the messages of the book is that addiction doesn’t discriminate. It knows no socioeconomic boundaries and can come for anyone at any time, and we should treat it the way we treat any disease. The people who have the disease of addiction or substance abuse should have an opportunity to get their health back, which is what 50 men are doing here right now.”

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Bruce’s is the first face you see when you walk through the front doors of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — his photo and urn are housed in a plexiglass case in the facility’s lobby.

Getting the $15-million, 50-bed facility for men built and opened involved numerous logistical hurdles as well as pushback from some in the community (and in public office), which Oake details in the second half of his book. Once the shuttered and neglected Vimy Arena on Hamilton Avenue was chosen as the spot for the centre, the Oakes and foundation members held public consultations and education sessions to help those in the community understand what the centre would entail.

“What they didn’t know is that there’s a massive difference between active addiction and recovery,” says Oake. “Active addiction is ugly. It revolves around drug-seeking behaviour, and our family knows as well as anyone how ugly it can be. Recovery is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s a beautiful thing, because those seeking it are focused on only one thing, and that’s their sobriety.”

Since opening in 2021, the centre has stymied any doubt about its effectiveness and impact on the surrounding community.

“Some who were vociferous opponents are now supporters of the centre, either through volunteering or just generally being supporters of the place,” Oake says. “It’s turned out exactly the way that we hoped it would. It’s made the neighbourhood a better place.”

The sprawling 43,000-square-foot centre features floor-to-ceiling windows, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and a number of meeting rooms. “It’s bright, open, airy, and it screams ‘welcome home,’” says Oake. “It’s bathed in natural light, which is important in recovery. It’s a beautiful place in which to get your health back.”

“Those 120 Jets sweaters that hang in the gymnasium… each of those represents one year of sobriety for the guy whose name is on the back of the sweater. In many cases, those guys now have more than one year… a lot of those sweaters are the difference between life and death.”– Scott Oake

Many of those who have completed treatment at the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre have gone on to work at the facility, or have served as ambassadors in the community. In Oake’s epilogue, he gives the last word to Terrence Morin, a former inmate who went through the facility’s treatment program and is pursuing counselling certification at Yellowquill College.

Another sign of the centre’s success is the sea of Jets jerseys hanging from the gym rafters, each sporting the number one and a myriad of last names. “Those 120 Jets sweaters that hang in the gymnasium — each of those represents one year of sobriety for the guy whose name is on the back of the sweater,” Oake says. “In many cases, those guys now have more than one year… a lot of those sweaters are the difference between life and death.”

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In For the Love of a Son, Oake also chronicles the difficult time leading up to the centre’s opening, when Anne was diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis, a disease where the immune system attacks the liver. She died in September 2021 at age 65.

“I sat at this very table with Michael, and that was one of the chapters we wrote when he was here, telling the story of Anne and her passing, and I was sobbing,” he says.

Anne’s legacy lives on. In September 2024, ground was broken on the 70-bed Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, a $25-million facility for women to be located near the Victoria Hospital. Oake and the foundation have once again launched a capital campaign to move the project forward, which is now past the halfway point.

This time, Oake anticipates less pushback and fewer hurdles in getting the facility up and running. “The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is a proven entity — our message is that women deserve the same opportunity,” he says, adding that the Anne Oake centre will have space for mothers and their children because “a lot of women are reluctant to go into recovery… they’re afraid they’re going to lose their kids. It’s important for the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre to offer the opportunity for families to be kept together.”

“I’m adamant that the Order of Canada, as it applies in this case, is for everyone at the Bruce and Anne Oake Foundation… These guys come and do the work, they make this place a success. They reclaim their lives.”– Scott Oake

In December 2024, Oake was made a member of the Order of Canada as both a “dedicated advocate for addiction recovery” and as a “distinguished sports broadcaster for CBC Sports, Sportsnet and Hockey Night In Canada.”

Oake credits the work of the foundation and those at the recovery centre for the nod.

“I’m proud of my career, but I’m smart enough to know that this has more to do with advocacy for treatment and recovery than it does with broadcasting,” he says. “I’m adamant that the Order of Canada, as it applies in this case, is for everyone at the Bruce and Anne Oake Foundation, starting with and right down to the participants here.

“These guys come and do the work, they make this place a success. They reclaim their lives.”

ben.sigurdson@freepress.mb.ca

@bensigurdson