Jun 23, 2022
Committee hearings investigating Hockey Canada convene next month
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will convene hearings on July 27 and 28 to further scrutinize Hockey Canada’s response a 2018 sexual assault allegation, the parliamentary committee said on Thursday.
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will convene hearings on July 27 and 28 to further scrutinize Hockey Canada’s response a 2018 sexual assault allegation, the parliamentary committee said on Thursday.
The committee made the decision during a private meeting Wednesday, two days after Hockey Canada president Scott Smith and outgoing chief executive Tom Renney testified before the committee in Ottawa.
According to minutes of the Wednesday meeting, Hockey Canada officials will be subpoenaed to testify, as will the Canadian Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, former Hockey Canada senior vice president of insurance and risk management Glen McCurdie, and Sport Canada official Nicole Mulligan.
Investigators from the Toronto law firm Henein Hutchinson, which was hired by Hockey Canada to investigate the 2018 sexual abuse allegation, Barry Lorenzetti, president of the insurance company BFL Canada, and Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge will also be invited to testify.
Hockey Canada has been widely criticized by members of parliament, committee members, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week after Smith and Renney testified that Hockey Canada hired Henein Hutchinson to investigate an alleged sexual assault by eight Canadian Hockey League players, but the organization didn’t require players who attended the event to participate in its third-party investigation.
The woman, who is not identified in court records, alleged the assaults occurred in June of 2018 in a London, Ont., hotel room following a Hockey Canada golf tournament and gala. Her allegations, which included that some of her attackers were members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior gold-medal winning team, were included in a lawsuit filed April 20, 2022, that has been settled.
The plaintiff asked a judge to award $3.55 million. The amount of the settlement is unknown. The allegations against the players were never proven in court and none of the defendants filed a response.
St-Onge told TSN in an interview on Wednesday that the government was freezing Hockey Canada’s federal funding moving forward until it meets a number of conditions, including signing up for a new federal agency that independently receives abuse complaints, investigates them, and levies sanctions when appropriate.
Also Wednesday, the House of Commons unanimously approved a Bloc Quebecois motion to commission an independent investigation into Hockey Canada.
“Hockey Canada is aware that the Minister has set conditions relating to the funds the organization receives from the federal government,” Hockey Canada spokeswoman Esther Madziya wrote in a statement released on Thursday.
“Hockey Canada is deeply committed and actively working to foster a culture in our sport where everyone involved feels safe, and of which all Canadians can feel proud. We recognize that as leaders we need to do more – and we are committed to doing just that. In the days and months ahead, Canadians can expect to hear more about our work in this area.”
According to the minutes of Wednesday’s meeting, the committee will request the non-disclosure agreement signed in connection with the settlement (redacted as to identities), copies of communications from Hockey Canada to teams and players on this issue, and communications between Hockey Canada and Sport Canada on this issue from June 2018 until July 15, 2022.
The committee is also requesting minutes of Hockey Canada and Hockey Canada Foundation meetings, subject to solicitor-client privilege.
Renney said that Hockey Canada settled the claim in weeks because the organization “felt a moral obligation” to do so. Smith testified that Hockey Canada liquidated some of its investments to settle the lawsuit and insisted government money was not used.
Hockey Canada contacted all the players’ teams about the incident and “strongly recommended” they participate in the investigation, Renney said.
Smith testified that 12 or 13 players who were at the event in London participated with the Henein Hutchison investigation. He also testified that Sport Canada was contacted and informed of the alleged assault on June 26, 2018.
The National Hockey League announced May 26 it was opening an investigation into the allegations