Apr 18, 2018
Parent involved in WHL investigation fears findings will remain under wraps
Retired RCMP officer investigating claims of academic fraud, emotional abuse and exploitation in the Western Hockey League wrote in a text message that he can’t assure witness in the case that his final report will be available to her or the public.
A retired RCMP officer who is investigating claims of academic fraud, emotional abuse and exploitation in the Western Hockey League wrote in a text message that he cannot assure a witness in the case that his eventual report will be available to her or the public.
Craig Callens, a former RCMP deputy commissioner, was hired by a law firm representing the WHL in March following a Feb. 28 state senate hearing in Salem, Ore., in which two former players, as well as Kim Taylor, testified about playing conditions in the WHL.
After being contacted by Callens, Taylor wrote in a March 28 text message to him that she had misgivings about cooperating with his investigation.
“My fear is what happens to your findings/report?” Taylor wrote. “Will the full report be made public? May I get a copy? I know you probably don’t have the answer. But how can we insure [sic] something will actually be done with the findings just not swept under the table, or picked apart with limited but not full disclosure.”
Callens replied the same day: “I will provide my report and recommendations to the law firm, they will in all likelihood share it with the WHL. I don’t know that they will release it to the public and I am not in a position to provide you with a copy. I understand your concerns and I have some thoughts that may put your mind at ease on a couple of points. Are you inclined to discuss my approach over the phone?”
Taylor said she didn’t agree to speak with Callens on the phone because she wants to ensure she has a documented paper trail of their correspondence.
Taylor provided TSN with copies of text messages and emails she has exchanged with Callens as well as documents she has provided to him. Both Callens and the WHL declined to comment on the investigation.
The hearing in Oregon was held because the Portland Winterhawks and WHL had asked for an exemption so the team wouldn’t have to pay players at least minimum wage, which is currently $11.25 an hour in the U.S. state. The exemption request was denied.
Taylor, whose son Garrett played two seasons in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders, alleged during the state hearing that her son was released from the Hurricanes early in the 2009-10 season by being pulled off the bus prior to a road trip. He was told to take his equipment off the bus and report to the Hurricanes’ Jr. A team in Canmore, Alta., without being given any gas or food money, she said.
She also testified that the Hurricanes didn’t inform the family that Garrett had been cut from the team and that because of experiences like that he began to suffer panic attacks that developed into obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Garett was subsequently institutionalized for 72 days, care that was paid for by his father’s insurance.
Garrett arrived in Lethbridge, Alta., a few minutes after 4 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2008, travelling from his family home in San Diego. Within a few hours, he was on the ice playing for the Hurricanes in a WHL preseason game against the Kootenay Ice. During the game, the then-17-year-old suffered a concussion.
“After I dumped the puck I took a late hit by a Kootenay player who crosschecked me from behind,” Garrett wrote Callens. “This player received a multiple game suspension. All the players told me after it was a bad hit, they thought I had broke my neck. I laid on the ice just trying to regain my focus as I was seeing stars. As the trainer got to me I managed to get up and skate off the ice. The last thing I wanted to look like was a sissy on my first day.”
Taylor says Garrett’s team policy with The Co-Operators indicates his insurance coverage didn’t begin until Sept. 17, 2008, four days after he was injured. Also, Taylor’s release papers, freeing him from the Los Angeles Kings’ Midget AAA team to join the Hurricanes, weren’t signed by then-Hurricanes general manager Roy Stasiuk and Kings’ official Helen Alex until Sept. 21.
Details about Garrett Taylor’s injury and release paperwork were included in the documents sent by Kim Taylor to Callens.
“I’m not sure [Garrett] was even allowed to play in an exhibition game,” Taylor wrote in a March 29 email to Callens. “I also have a confirmation of insurance from The Co-Operators. It’s [sic] states the application date and insurance coverage was effective [Sept. 17, 2008]. Does this mean he wasn’t even covered by team’s insurance yet?”
Taylor also outlined her son’s exit from the Hurricanes. In her March 29 email to Callens, she wrote learned that Garrett had been ordered off the Hurricanes’ team bus by the father of another player.
Taylor wrote the parent “called me to tell me what had just gone down with Garrett and that I better get up there to support him ASAP. I had to be informed by another player’s dad that the team had released and reassigned my own son… No one from the team called us.”
Callens asked in an April 6 email to Taylor for more details about her son’s exit from the Hurricanes.
“…are you able to confirm for me who the GM was that called Garrett off the bus and told him he was being reassigned; and, whether the coaches were present, and their names, if in fact they were there,” Callens wrote.
The following day, on April 7, Taylor emailed Callens to say several members of the Hurricanes staff were involved and provided Callens with their names.
Callens responded later on April 7.
“Helpful to have the names confirmed and I will be following up,” he wrote.