The entire Hockey Canada Board of Directors and its CEO, Scott Smith, finally announced on Tuesday that they are stepping down to “make way for a new slate of directors”, in the wake of his criticized management of sexual assault allegations involving junior players.
Updated yesterday at 4:43 p.m.
“An interim management committee will be formed to oversee the organization until a new board appoints a new chief executive to lead the organization,” the sports federation said in a brief statement. .
Hockey Canada recognizes at the same time “the urgent need for new leadership and new perspectives”. The board says it will ask its members to “nominate a new group of directors no later than the virtual election,” which is scheduled for December 17.
“The board of directors will not stand for this election, but will fulfill its fiduciary obligations until a new board of directors is elected”, also explains the organization.
In addition to Scott Smith, seven other members who were still active on the board are therefore leaving the ship: Terry Engen from Eckville, Alberta, Kirk Lamb from Calgary, John Neville from Markham, Ontario, Barry Reynard from Kenora, Ontario, Mary Anne Veroba of Lampman, Saskatchewan, Bobby Sahni of Toronto and Goops Wooldridge of Milton Station, Prince Edward Island.
Good decision, but…
On the political scene, all parties combined, it was argued that the organization was not necessarily at the end of its troubles, despite this step in the right direction.
“It’s a good first step, but we know there’s a culture change that needs to happen at Hockey Canada. There will be a lot of work to do in the weeks and months to come to regain the confidence of Canadians, and especially Canadian parents,” responded Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
And the fact that Hockey Canada’s senior leadership “took too long” before finally throwing in the towel speaks to the fact that the toxic culture was entrenched, as the “organization didn’t understand how bad it was “, he continued on the sidelines of an economic announcement in Sorel-Tracy.
Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge had made similar comments before her boss.
“This is a first step in restoring the confidence of Canadians. […] We are waiting for the interim board to be made up of people who want to make real change,” she said, pleading in particular for “better supervision of players, and an environment free of sexual violence and discrimination.” .
I am determined to continue working with our partners, including the athletes themselves, on the reform of sport in Canada so that all the organizations we fund are more transparent and accountable.
Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sports
In a press briefing, Mme St-Onge insisted that his teams will be “very vigilant” to ensure that the new board of directors will be “as motivated and determined as we are to make the necessary changes”. “I expect there to be a greater diversity of people on the board of directors,” she said, speaking of a “mix” to be achieved between knowledge of hockey, governance and prevention of sexual violence. “There is a huge amount of work awaiting the organization. And for me, it’s not just a question of image ”, also mentioned Mme St-Onge. A financial audit of Hockey Canada is also still ongoing, she added.
On Twitter, the Bloc sports critic, Sébastien Lemire, said that these resignations leave “finally a glimpse of the serious possibility of coming to the long-awaited and long-awaited culture change”. “Investigations will have to follow their course and we continue to call for an independent investigation in order to shed light on the opaque and dated management that is taking place within Hockey Canada, and subject the organization to a real examination of its practices,” said he said.
Another MP who was hot on the heels of the organization’s bosses in parliamentary committee, New Democrat Peter Julian, warned the federation that it would now have “the heavy task of reassuring the Canadian public that the toxic culture of abuse and sexual misconduct, which has been consistently condoned and proactively silenced for far too long, will no longer be within the organization.”
In recent days, the pressure had become very strong on the political side. “We lost faith in Hockey Canada. It’s time for them to leave,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted.
Hockey Quebec, which had been the first provincial federation to affirm that it would withhold the $3 participation fee that players pay each year to Hockey Canada, also felt that this overhaul “will allow us to take a fresh look at the challenges raise “. “It is essential to ensure that future directors take concrete action to effect in-depth change. […] We will be active in order to propose solutions, ”said the federation.
Looking for candidates
For the future, Hockey Canada says it is looking for candidates “wishing to build the future of the organization”. “We invite qualified individuals to respond to the call for nominations launched by the Independent Nominating Committee last week,” says management.
The interim management committee “will focus its efforts on the day-to-day running of the organization, while ensuring the progress of the implementation of Hockey Canada’s action plan.” One of his mandates will be “the full implementation” of the recommendations of the independent review by Thomas Cromwell, the former Supreme Court justice who was given the mandate to review the organization’s governance. “Hockey Canada will continue to update the public on these important changes and the work in progress,” the federation concludes.
This complete overhaul comes as the list of sponsors dropping Hockey Canada continues to grow. The official equipment supplier, Bauer Hockey, announced on Tuesday that it was severing its financial ties with the men’s teams. Bauer was thus added to a long list of crucial partners, such as Tim Hortons, Scotiabank, Telus, Nike and Canadian Tire.
Since May, Hockey Canada has been trying to justify its management of the aftermath of a gang rape allegedly perpetrated by eight junior-aged players in June 2018. Last spring, the national federation reached an amicable agreement with the woman who was allegedly victimized after she filed a civil lawsuit against her possible attackers, the Canadian Hockey League and Hockey Canada.
the Globe and Mail revealed the existence of two little-known funds, partly fed by contributions from young players from across the country, whose mission was to compensate victims of sexual assault. We know that one of them, the National Equity Fund, was used precisely for this purpose. From 1989 to 2022, drawing on different sources of funding, Hockey Canada has paid millions of dollars to 22 victims, we learned during the summer.
Different Hockey Canada practices or decisions have also come to light over the weeks and months. The federation was satisfied with an incomplete report produced by a firm responsible for carrying out an investigation into the alleged assault in 2018. It disseminated false information to the public about the victim. She also circulated a survey to players’ parents asking them if they considered the criticisms expressed in the media “exaggerated”. The Press also revealed last Friday that Hockey Canada had gone to court to prevent the federal government from disclosing sensitive financial information for the organization.
With Simon-Olivier Lorange and Mélanie Marquis, The Press