The Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) has reopened an investigation into a possible gang rape in hockey that occurred in 2014 by four former Gatineau Olympiques players, says the Bloc Québécois.
In a statement, the Bloc spokesperson for Sports, Sébastien Lemire, claims to have informed the police force of a statement by the commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (LHJMQ), Gilles Courteau, in a parliamentary committee at the end of June. The police force reportedly told the elected official that they had sent the information to the investigators for analysis.
During an appearance before federal elected officials, Mr. Courteau was questioned about an alleged gang rape involving the Gatineau Olympiques in January 2014.
Mr. Courteau replied that an investigation had already taken place and that his organization would cooperate if the police wished to reopen theirs.
In a written statement, the QMJHL says it has “learned of the reopening” of the police investigation into the alleged events and that it undertakes to offer “its full cooperation” to the police.
The Quebec police, for their part, refused to comment specifically on the file “for obvious reasons of confidentiality”.
In its response to The Canadian Press, however, the police force invites “any alleged victim of sexual assault who wishes to file a complaint for events, whether contemporary or not, or to pursue a complaint initiated in the past, or any victim who does not was not prepared to do so at the time, to communicate with the SPVQ and not to hesitate to file a complaint”.
In a 2015 article, The sun reported that the victim accused the Quebec City police of not having “taken her seriously”. Joined by The gallery this week, the young woman declared that she still suffers to this day from anxiety, that she has suicidal thoughts and physical ailments.
The Bloc Québécois refused to allow its MP to give an interview to explain what prompted him to communicate this statement by the commissioner to the police.
Hockey Canada has been in the spotlight in recent months after it was revealed that the organization has reached an out-of-court settlement with a woman who is seeking $3.5 million in damages in relation to a gang rape allegedly involving members of the Canadian junior hockey team in 2018.