Twenty cases of sexual abuse have cost nearly $9 million to a Hockey Canada fund dedicated to out-of-court settlements and its insurer since 1989.
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The Hockey Canada fund, which is largely funded by membership fees paid by families of young players, has been used to make nine payments totaling $7.6 million since its inception in 1989.
The insurer of the organization that oversees amateur hockey in the country has for its part paid out $1.3 million in compensation for 12 other cases of sexual assault or sexual misconduct.
Screenshot, TVA Nouvelles
Hockey Canada President and CEO Scott Smith at the Standing Heritage Committee yesterday.
The information came from the mouth of the financial director of the organization, Brian Cairo. He testified yesterday to a parliamentary committee, along with CEO Scott Smith and the presidents of various junior leagues across the country.
Mr. Cairo claimed that this fund, dubbed the “national equity fund”, served as a “self-insurance” policy.
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By not having recourse to an external insurer, Hockey Canada was able to avoid the investigations that generally precede claims for compensation.
Of this amount, $6.8 million was used to settle cases related to Graham James, a junior hockey coach who assaulted a multitude of young players, including Sheldon Kennedy. The former professional player is known for being one of the first to denounce the culture of silence within professional sport.
It is also from this fund that the external firm Henein Hutchison, commissioned by Hockey Canada to investigate the alleged gang rape involving seven players in London, Ontario, in 2018, is paid.
The firm received $287,000 for this work over four years, but the confidential agreement concluded with the alleged victim was not counted in the $7.6 million. The amount of the settlement is not known, but the organization’s leaders concluded that he would be provided with the “maximum” sum.
- Listen to Vincent Dessureault’s commentary on QUB radio:
The head of the CEO claimed
All the deputies who took part in the hearing yesterday echoed Sheldon Kennedy in demanding the resignation of CEO Scott Smith, who found himself on the grill for three hours.
The latter replied that resignation was not in his plans, without however closing the door on it definitively.
“I am ready to take responsibility for acting for change in our sport,” he said.
Mr. Smith, who inherited the position earlier this month, has presented himself as the man for the job, ready to end the “culture of silence that allows toxic behavior and [au] sexism to poison the corners of our sport”.