Here’s a multiple-choice question: What’s most troubling about Hockey Canada?
Posted at 7:45 a.m.
A – CEO Scott Smith who, with astonishing condescension, takes part in the medal ceremony at the end of the recent Women’s World Championship;
B – The approach taken by the organization with commercial partners to verify whether the departure of certain leaders would be sufficient for them to resume their sponsorship (a revelation of the Globe and Mail from Toronto last month);
C – The strong renewed support of the Board of Directors for Smith and the senior management team;
D – All these answers.
My choice, of course, is D.
Hockey Canada is an organization that inhabits a parallel world, completely disconnected from reality, and which does terribly harm to the development of hockey in Canada. The resounding failure of the last World Junior Championship in Alberta (starving attendances) is one proof of this among others.
Even more: attending the medal ceremony at the Women’s World Championship in Denmark last weekend, Smith knew perfectly well — unless he was a complete fool — that he would cast a shadow over the victory of the Canadian players. Her mere presence rightly generated intense media interest which cast a shadow over the great victory of our representatives.
PHOTO BO AMSTRUP, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
In The Press Thursday, the Canadian Minister of Sports, Pascale St-Onge, is also sorry, calling Smith’s gesture “so unfortunate”. “The future of the organization is in jeopardy,” she added. I hope she is aware of that. »
Alas no. Hockey Canada suffers from an aberrant lack of judgment. In the current turmoil, this once respected institution no longer has the development of hockey in the country as a priority.
In the short term, its real objective is to restore the moral authority of its board of directors and its senior management, a mission doomed to failure.
If Hockey Canada really cared about hockey, the board members and senior management would have quit a long time ago. They would have understood that in the current state of things, this is the only possible gesture for Canadians to regain confidence in the organization.
Yes, it would have required a good dose of self-sacrifice from them, insofar as they obviously believe themselves capable of putting the train back on the rails themselves. Between the good of their organization and their personal interests, they made the wrong choice.
* * *
Earlier this summer, Michael Brind’Amour stepped down as chairman of the board. It was the only decision to be made and the Quebec lawyer understood it well. It is clear that the board has failed in its mandate to oversee senior management in recent years.
Brind’Amour’s departure was a great opportunity to inject new blood into the board, to appoint someone who had never been associated with the organization as president. The presence of a fresh look is essential to begin the process of reconstruction.
Instead, board members opted for their colleague, Andrea Skinner, on an interim basis, another official who doesn’t seem alarmed about Hockey Canada’s actions in sexual assault cases.
Unsurprisingly, since she’s part of the “gang,” Skinner was quick to announce her full support for CEO Smith. Under his leadership, the organization’s doors will remain locked tightly.
In his first written statement, Skinner awarded himself and his colleagues a medal: “Several directors, including myself, have full-time jobs. Each and every one of us has given hundreds of hours away from our families and our jobs to fulfill our duties as volunteer administrators. »
She then targeted one of her objectives: “Over the next few weeks, we will continue to tackle misinformation targeting the board of directors, its environment and its work. »
Phew! In the current context, Skinner should have refrained from writing these things. This is not the time to brag about the greatness of soul of the members of the council and there is more urgent than to “attack” on a so-called “disinformation”.
* * *
In the hope of rebuilding bridges with Canadians, Hockey Canada commissioned a former Supreme Court of Canada judge, Thomas Cromwell, to analyze the organization’s governance. His mandate clearly situates a certain number of issues, in particular concerning the operation of the board of directors.
However, the process seems to me to be flawed at its core. Cromwell got his mandate from Hockey Canada’s board of directors and it is to its members that he will be accountable.
In terms of public perception, it would have been much better if he had not had to submit his report to the board of directors, in a way the “client” in this story. A wall should have existed between the council and him. I would have preferred it to act at the request of the federal government.
Hockey Canada tells us that the “first recommendations are planned for the Hockey Canada General Assembly in November 2022”.
None of this changes the harsh reality, one that Hockey Canada refuses to see, but that Justin Trudeau forcefully recalled at the end of last month.
“It’s been very clear that for several months, the government and Canadians no longer have confidence in the management of Hockey Canada,” said the Premier. The longer it takes to understand this fairly obvious and basic fact, the worse it will go for them. »
In effect.