Hope and inspiration Winnipegger brought the house down with stirring renditions of national anthems By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 6:06 PM CST Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 Last Modified: 9:23 PM CST Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 Updates

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Music has always been a way for Olivia Steadman to process what can be a strange and scary world around her.

Blind at birth as the result of a stroke she suffered in the womb, the 22-year-old Winnipegger also lives with cerebral palsy and other intellectual challenges that have made the routine tasks and luxuries of life most of us take for granted seem impossible at times.

“There’s a lot of isolation for people who are perceived as different or have disabilities,” said her mother, Barbro Dick.

And that’s why what went down last Thursday night at Canada Life Centre prior to the NHL game between the Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken was bigger than a young woman being given the opportunity to achieve her dream of belting out the Canadian and American anthems on a big stage.

It was community and connection. Hope and inspiration.

“I just can’t believe the number of people who have been touched by this,” said Olivia’s father, Tim Steadman, noting the family phones have been “blowing up” over the past several days with thousands of messages from as far away as Australia.

Olivia, to borrow a popular showbiz term, brought the house down with her stirring renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner and O Canada.

“It is not easy to sing in front of thousands of people and she performed with such joy and grace. I was struck by the power and the clarity of her voice,” said Jets regular anthem singer Stacey Nattrass.

“She got me right in the heart. Everyone has a voice and their voices deserve to be heard. We can learn so much from listening to the under-heard voices in our communities. We all had a front row seat to watch Olivia’s dream come true. What an inspiration she is to all of us.”

Although Olivia may not have been able to see the nearly 14,000 people in attendance at Canada Life Centre, she heard and felt their presence.

”I was excited and happy. There were tears of happiness.”– Olivia Steadman

”I was excited and happy,” she told the Free Press. “There were tears of happiness.”

Olivia was hardly alone in that department, with near-universal praise for what was clearly a special moment that her village of supporters believes can be a movement.

“It’s been a long journey for her to reach what was she able to do there,” said Dick.

“She went from literally having to be supported to stand to what you saw Thursday where she’s got the physical stamina to do it, she has the emotional and social regulation to manage it. It just gives her so much confidence. She just loves it. It makes her feel so good, and she senses how good it makes other people feel.”

Her introduction to music came during childhood, at a time when there was still grave concern about whether Olivia would ever be able to even walk or talk.

“Things were very unclear around what her prognosis would be. And so we saw that as a way to stimulate brain development and her language,” said Dick.

It worked, with slow but steady progression that eventually had Olivia — who would often wake up singing — being invited to get the morning started at school.

“She would sing the anthem over the PA system,” said Dick.

With ongoing therapy and respite work — the Movement Centre of Manitoba has played a major role in that since she was five— Olivia and her circle began to think big. During a planning meeting in 2016, the subject of a performance at Jets game was first raised.

“Wouldn’t that be an amazing accomplishment for her?” read a written report, which her family still has. The process really gained momentum last year thanks to one of those “Winnipeg is just a big small town” stories.

Tim Steadman and Jets co-owner and chairman Mark Chipman have known each other for many years, even playing beer league hockey together. Tim also grew up with Doug Ploen, the son of Blue Bombers legend Ken Ploen who passed away last February at the age of 88.

Olivia had previously sung in front of the Ploen family — they loved hearing her do the U.S. anthem to pay homage to their roots — and she was invited to perform at his celebration of life. Chipman was among the 400 people in attendance that day and was wowed by what he heard.

When the family later mentioned Olivia’s anthem dream, Chipman was fully on board and joked that “I know a guy” to make it a reality.

Was she nervous when the day finally arrived?

“She knows she can sing. And when she sings, people cheer and she gets a big smile on her face. It’s as simple as that,” said her father.

“I’ve never seen her in a singing setting being nervous. The only time she shows nerves is when we have medical appointments. She would have sensed it was a bigger audience, but it wouldn’t have affected her at all.”

“She went from literally having to be supported to stand to what you saw Thursday where she’s got the physical stamina to do it, she has the emotional and social regulation to manage it. It just gives her so much confidence. She just loves it.”– Barbro Dick, Olivia’s mother

Hundreds of family members and friends and people who are part of her circle came out in support.

“Olivia may have captivated the hearts of Manitobans on Thursday night, but she’s been captivating our hearts at the Movement Centre for 17 years,” said executive director Jennifer Wojcik, who described her as a shining light who always makes life better for those around her.

“Thursday night was about giving people with disabilities an opportunity to live to their fullest potential, allowing them to fulfill their dreams and share their gifts with the world. It was about ensuring individuals living with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else, are equally valued, and fully integrated into the community.”

Chipman noted to the family how Jets captain Adam Lowry was beaming on the bench the whole time, and it turns out he has a connection as well. Lowry and his girlfriend are friends with Olivia’s cousin and attended her wedding, where Olivia also sung.

“(Chipman) told me after, ‘Steady, I want her back next year and I want to put it on a Saturday night game so it’s a national audience,” said Steadman.

The family, along with all of those involved in Olivia’s life, repeatedly praised Chipman and True North for providing this opportunity and sending a powerful message.

“I think the Jets have gone above and beyond other NHL teams and I hope there is a message for those other teams. Winnipeg is an amazing city and we are seeing an increased effort into ensuring the inclusion of everyone,” said Janet Forbes, the executive director of Inclusion Winnipeg which has also worked close with Olivia and her family.

“This shows that everyone has different gifts and talents, and all they need is the support of the people in their immediate circle as well as the community members in general.”

Olivia isn’t done dreaming big. She’d love to one day perform with the Tenors, having met them in 2021 when she got a backstage VIP pass.

For now, she’ll keep practicing with some of her favourites which include various Christmas carols like Silent Night, Frank Sinatra’s classics My Way and New York, New York, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Josh Groban’s Believe and Somewhere Over The Rainbow. You can follow along on her Instagram account.

“She has been a bit of a beacon for this whole value of inclusion and that everybody deserves to feel like they belong and play a purposeful role in community,” said her mother.

“The Jets are playing a role in helping us get that idea out there. A lot of work has gone into Olivia becoming the person she is. It’s not an easy road, but I’m hoping that for those that aren’t heard or aren’t seen, this will help the broader community.”

To assist families like the Steadmans, the Movement Centre of Manitoba — in partnership with the Winnipeg Foundation — has established an endowment fund with a goal of reaching $20 million in charitable donations. If you’d like to contribute or wish to learn more, you can visit their website here.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg