Calls continue for a major shakeup at Hockey Canada following recent revelations about how the organization has handled past sexual abuse claims.
Canada’s House of Commons heritage committee is investigating how the organization handled past assault allegations, including setting aside a reserve funded by player fees to pay “uninsurable liabilities” such as sexual assault claims.
“I’m not surprised,” Brock McGillis, an LGBTQIA2S+ advocate and the first gay male professional hockey player, told CTV News Channel on Thursday.
“That’s the hockey culture, that’s what it’s been, that’s what I’ve been saying since 2016, and it needs a complete overhaul.”
It was revealed Wednesday that Hockey Canada has paid $7.6 million in nine settlements since 1989 involving claims of sexual assault and abuse.
Of that, $6.8 million included settlements related to Graham James, a former junior hockey coach convicted of sexually abusing players.
The $7.6 million does not include an undisclosed amount from a settlement revealed in May with a woman who sued Hockey Canada over an alleged sexual assault in London, Ont., involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Hockey Canada has reopened its independent investigation into this incident, which allegedly happened after the Hockey Canada gala, and the law firm handling it says it has interviewed the complainant. The organization also plans to speak with nine players who were at the gala but were not interviewed in the original 2018 investigation.
Hockey Canada executives said the woman chose not to speak to police or investigators and chose not to identify the players involved at this time.
Police in London, Ontario have since reopened their investigation into the 2018 team. Halifax police are also investigating a historic alleged gang sexual assault at the 2003 world junior hockey championship.
Hockey Canada, meanwhile, has been criticized for maintaining a reserve called the National Equity Fund, which comes from player fees, to be used for “uninsured liabilities,” including but not limited to sexual assault claims.
Hockey Canada has since said it will no longer use the fund to settle sexual assault claims.
“I think it’s disgusting, I think it’s sad,” McGillis said of the reserve fund.
“… I mean we play AAA hockey, parents pay upwards of $20,000 a year for their kid to play, and then find out some of that money is being used to pay victims of sexual assault. And also, instead of doing proactive things like using money to really change the culture and humanize the issues and educate people, we’re using it in a reactive way to pay and silence the victims.”
CALLS FOR HOCKEY CANADA EXECUTIVES TO RESIGN
McGillis and others have called for a change in Hockey Canada’s leadership.
Among those calling for the resignation of Hockey Canada president and CEO Scott Smith is former NHL player and victims’ rights advocate Sheldon Kennedy. Kennedy has been vocal about a cultural change in hockey after his own experience being abused by then-coach Graham James.
Kennedy shared a statement Tuesday on Twitter after Hockey Canada released an “action plan” to combat the “toxic” culture in its sport.
Smith said that while the ongoing management review may determine he is not the best person for the role, he believes he is “the right person to lead Hockey Canada to a new place.”
Politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have also taken aim at Canadian hockey. In June, the federal government stopped funding the organization.
McGillis said the recent events could prove to be a “watershed” moment for Canadian hockey, but noted that will depend on whether a new leadership team and board is put in place.
“I’m still not completely optimistic, but I’m more encouraged than I’ve been in the last six years of doing this job,” he said.
Brady Lievold, a former Canadian Hockey League player and founder of Puck Support, an organization focused on substance abuse and mental health in hockey, told CTV News Channel on Wednesday that as one of the leading organizations in the country, Hockey Canada must ” step up and go above and beyond.”
“I think initially I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but as more things start to come out, it’s becoming pretty clear to me that trust has been broken and this is one of the most prestigious organizations here in Canada,” he said.
“And whether it was or not, I think people here should be able to trust those in charge, and in my opinion, sitting here today, I think they should do their due diligence and do the right thing for everybody and step down.” “
In a statement released Thursday, Ann Pegoraro, a University of Guelph professor and co-director of the National Network for the Study of Gender Equality in Canadian Sport, said if Hockey Canada wants to regain the trust of Canadians, those in leadership must resign.
She also called for more diversity across sports management.
“You really can’t solve problems like this when you have the same people and attitudes that created the problems in the first place,” she said in the statement.
With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press
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