We don’t often talk about the Dubin commission anymore. This one, however, at the end of the 1980s, made it possible to highlight the scourge of doping in Canadian athletics.
Member of the commission of inquiry created in the wake of the Ben Johnson scandal, the jurist Hugh Fraser had to take a cold and critical look at an environment plagued by illegal practices that have become commonplace. Himself a former sprinter, he saw some of his ex-teammates pass among the witnesses. The revelations were overwhelming.
More than 30 years later, he therefore speaks with knowledge when he says he is fully prepared to make the “tough decisions” that will be necessary during his tenure at Hockey Canada.
Just before Christmas, a completely renewed board of directors was appointed. The presidency was entrusted to Hugh Fraser, a candidate with an unfailing profile. A member of the 4 x 100 m relay at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, he was a judge of the Superior Court of Ontario for 25 years. For years, he has sat on tribunals related to the Olympic movement and acted as an independent arbitrator in doping and other cases. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Complex Case Resolution Group in the NCAA. He has never worked in the field of hockey, but brings with him a sharp expertise in sports ethics.
This is timely. Because at the end of a horrible year for the federation, everything has to be rebuilt. Embarrassing revelations seemed to follow on endlessly. The bond of trust with the public, the political class and long-standing partners is broken.
During a 30-minute interview with The Press, Wednesday, Mr. Fraser never pronounced the names of the directors and managers swept away by the wave of scandals of recent months. The gaze is resolutely forward, but the tone, although cordial, remains firm. The eyes are open; ears strained. The time is no longer to sweep, divert, stifle. Hockey Canada will be evaluated from every angle. We do not promise that heads will roll, but we will not hesitate to make drastic gestures if the situation requires it. Current members of the leadership will be assessed, some of whom have been with the organization for decades and are de facto associated with the culture you are trying to change.
Since May, the organization has projected an image of closure, even disconnection from the society in which it operates. However, “it’s a new day”, promised the new president of the Board “I speak on behalf of all of Hockey Canada when I say that we must absolutely listen more. »
Revelations
A settlement reached with the alleged victim of a gang rape by members of the 2018 national junior team became, last spring, the starting point of an endless series of revelations which, every day, plunged further embarrassing the leaders in place. Bloodcurdling stories. Botched investigations. Millions of dollars taken from funds fed by public money and paid to victims of sexual assault. Opaque financial management, without accountability. In parliamentary committee, the leaders were rebellious, even arrogant.
The crisis has cost the position of two presidents of the Board and CEO Scott Smith. The organization was disavowed by the Government of Canada, which cut off its funding. The provincial federations challenged their parent entity. Longtime sponsors have jumped ship. The mess is total.
A report by former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell described failing governance with a serious lack of transparency and accountability.
Hugh Fraser therefore knows only too well that the mandate that awaits him will not be a cakewalk. On behalf of his fellow administrators, he stresses that “if someone is afraid of making a difficult decision, you shouldn’t say yes” to the recruiters in charge of finding candidates.
He “hopes that there will be no more bad news”, but nevertheless says he is “prepared for anything”. The revision of the finances of the federation could in particular reserve surprises – reports have revealed a lax and spendthrift management.
Crucially, the new investigation commissioned by Hockey Canada into the alleged 2018 gang rape by members of the National Junior Team is complete, and its record is in the hands of an independent panel that will provide recommendations to the Board. whether the investigation is conclusive or not, a new storm will blow when the results are revealed.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Hugh Fraser
“Nobody accepted [ce mandat] thinking it would be easy or that all the problems would be solved in a month, recalls Mr. Fraser. When we dig and find things we don’t like, we have to ask ourselves: how do we fix it? »
I believe that all problems have a solution, even if some are more complex or painful than others.
Hugh Fraser, new chair of Hockey Canada’s board of directors
He cites the example of verdicts he had to render, as an arbitrator, in doping cases. Complex decisions, “which could end careers”.
He also refers to his experience on the Dubin commission, a “dark” period for Canadian athletics. However, “there have been reforms and the organization has come out of them very strong in terms of integrity”, he underlines.
“It makes me optimistic, because if these changes could be made, why Hockey Canada could not do the same? I’m old enough to have history on my side and know that when people really get involved, change can happen. »
Culture
Hugh Fraser and the other new Hockey Canada directors have just completed the first month of their one-year term. Time flies, and there is a lot to do.
The holiday break was short. Already, the new CA has met virtually for some 40 hours, estimates its president. A face-to-face meeting in Halifax, on the sidelines of the recent World Juniors, made it possible to create the priority committees, in particular that in charge of the search for a new CEO.
The projects are multiple and will have to be deployed in parallel. The governance changes recommended by Justice Cromwell will be implemented. We will meet with the provincial and territorial federations at the beginning of February. We also plan to sit down with the federal Minister of Sports, Pascale St-Onge, who has sharply criticized the organization since the spring.
Through this, Mr. Fraser wishes to leave his mark on his reign by putting forward themes that are dear to him, namely diversity and accessibility. Hockey is expensive and historically played overwhelmingly by a white, middle-class population. “The nature of our country is changing,” he notes. Hockey needs to change too.
And there is also the elephant in the room. This famous toxic “culture” of hockey, especially among boys. The one where misogyny, discrimination of minorities and impunity have been erected into a system, and of which the absence of diversity is probably both the cause and the consequence. Hugh Fraser needs no drawing: his two sons played hockey – his youngest, Mark, even reached the NHL. They were shouted at to go back to Africa. The word that starts with N has been heard.
“Systemic” issues exist. “I’m not going to deny it. »
The administrator no longer wants hockey to be the poor child of Canadian sport, but rather a “leader” in matters of safety and inclusion. He wants to invest a lot of energy in a new “code of conduct”, which should above all be “for everyone, without exception”. “Whether you’re a 100-goal scorer or the last player selected on the team,” he says.
This code should not be limited to the “minimum acceptable threshold”. His message: “If you don’t comply, we won’t have a place for you. »
The Press then points out to his interlocutor that a code of conduct has not prevented the sadly numerous cases of group sexual assaults committed by hockey players in recent years.
In this regard, he invokes the end of “special treatments”. Players should no longer be placed on a “pedestal”. “I have the feeling that if the rules are the same for everyone, things can change. In fact, they must change. What inevitably passes through the “education” of the players and those who supervise them.
The projects of the ex-judge are numerous and ambitious. A single one-year term is unlikely to be enough to complete them. However, acknowledging the problems, and doing so in order to tackle them head-on, is in itself a change.
This is already a lot.