Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again called for radical changes at the top of Canadian hockey, even proposing a change of organization. (Getty Images)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for sweeping change in Canada’s hockey as hockey’s national governing body remains embroiled in a sexual-abuse scandal.
Trudeau suggested that Hockey Canada could be abolished and replaced by another organization that would do a better job of protecting its citizens from the widespread abuse that has allegedly occurred at a systemic level.
This past summer, it was revealed that Hockey Canada used the National Shares Fund to pay victims of sexual abuse, and on Monday, The Globe and Mail reported that Hockey Canada has created a second fund, called the Participants Legacy Trust Fund, to “Issues including but not limited to sexual assault.”
“There needs to be a wholesale change,” Trudeau said Thursday. “They need to realize that if we have to create an organization, get rid of Hockey Canada and instead create an organization called ‘Canada Hockey,’ people will look to do that.”
Hockey Canada met with the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Tuesday and it didn’t fare well, to say the least. Interim chair Andrea Skinner’s comments were particularly blunt, arguing that minor hockey across the country could not function without the current leadership group at Hockey Canada, dismissing calls for widespread change as deeply cynical.
There have been widespread calls for Hockey Canada president and CEO Scott Smith to resign, but Skinner and former Hockey Canada board chair Michael Brind’Amour strongly supported him during several inquiries by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
“I think it would have a very negative impact on all of our boys and girls who play hockey,” Skinner testified Tuesday. “Will the lights stay on at the rink? I do not know. We can’t predict that.
Trudeau declined Skinner’s offer.
“It’s not like there’s anything super special about the people at Hockey Canada that means they’re the only people in the country who can run an organization like this,” Trudeau said.
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“There are a lot of people who could run it and unfortunately, the complete loss of faith in this organization by everyone means it’s pointless digging in their heels on this.”
That comment stood out among her outraged testimony, and Skinner’s apparent disregard for public safety facilitated the aggressive withdrawal of Hockey Canada’s top sponsors of the national men’s programs, including Tim Hortons, Scotiabank, Sobey’s, Skip The Dishes and Canadian Tire, among others. Canadian Tire withdrew its financial support for all Hockey Canada programs on Thursday.
“There is a lack of understanding that they have lost the trust of Canadians,” Trudeau said Thursday.
“And the sooner they get to that, the better it will be for everyone.
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