Hockey Quebec is perhaps the first provincial federation to say that it will withhold the $3 participation fee that players pay to Hockey Canada each year. However, the main Ontario federation expressed this intention as early as July.
Posted at 3:45 p.m.
Updated at 5:12 p.m.
In a written statement provided to The Press, Phillip McKee, executive director of the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF), says he asked Michael Brind’Amour, who was then chairman of Hockey Canada’s board of directors, on July 29 that the national federation not collect the $3 per player for the 2022-2023 season. “Our understanding is that this request was never forwarded to the Board of Directors” until Mr. Brind’Amour resigned a week later, writes Mr. McKee.
“We have therefore renewed our formal request to Hockey Canada,” he adds, without specifying whether this time he got the answer he wanted.
It was not possible to validate Mr. McKee’s version with Mr. Brind’Amour. Hockey Canada, for its part, did not respond to an email sent to three spokespersons for the organization.
The HOF is “monitoring the situation at Hockey Canada”, concludes its director, “because we aspire to create a significant and effective change” in the culture of sport in the country.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has three federations that are members of Hockey Canada — the other two being concentrated in the northern and eastern regions of the province. The FOH is however the one that includes the most players.
PHOTO THE CANADIAN PRESS
Hockey Quebec has confirmed that it is suspending the transfer of $3 per registration usually paid to Hockey Canada.
The Press reported on Wednesday that the Hockey Quebec Board had voted in favor of a disallowance resolution against Hockey Canada. In particular, it states that it does not believe that the management in place is in a position to make structural changes within the organization. Hockey Quebec has also confirmed that it is suspending the transfer of $3 per registration usually paid to Hockey Canada. Costs related to player insurance coverage will however be transferred as usual.
The Press contacted all the federations in the country on Wednesday. At the end of the day, only Hockey Quebec and the FOH had established entrenched positions.
In a brief email, Hockey Saskatchewan said it had no “comment” to make on Hockey Quebec’s decision.
In British Columbia and Nova Scotia, they say “closely follow the situation in Quebec as well as the review of the governance of Hockey Canada led by Judge Thomas Cromwell”. The Nova Scotia entity has not yet decided on the “next steps” it will take. Its board of directors will meet next week to discuss it.
All the provincial federations had announced their colors during the summer. At the beginning of August, the 13 authorities representing the provinces and territories of the country had, with one voice, posed an ultimatum to Hockey Canada.
The organization was then required to provide detailed information on its handling of an alleged sexual assault case that occurred in 2018. In still unclear circumstances, an out-of-court settlement was reached with the alleged victim.
We also made the payment of dues for the 2022-2023 season conditional on comprehensive and transparent reporting. So far, only Quebec has moved from words to action.
“The movement is underway”
Hockey Quebec’s decision to distance itself from Hockey Canada was applauded by federal elected officials from all parties on Wednesday. Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge now hopes other provincial federations will follow suit.
“I think the movement to reform Hockey Canada is underway [et que] Hockey Quebec’s decision will be followed by other organizations,” said Ms.me St-Onge at the entrance to the weekly Liberal caucus meeting, less than 24 hours after urging the federations to exert pressure to clean up Hockey Canada.
The outing followed the appearance of Andrea Skinner, Interim Chair of Hockey Canada’s Board of Directors, before the Heritage Committee. In a scathing outing, Mme Skinner accused the media and the political class of having damaged the image of the national federation. According to her, the calls for the resignations of directors and administrators were based on “misinformation”. Hockey Canada and its president and CEO Scott Smith, she insisted, have always acted “appropriately”.
“The message that is sent to Hockey Canada leaders who cling to their position is that Hockey Canada does not belong to them. It also belongs to its members. And everyone agrees right now that it takes a culture change, especially when it comes to sexual violence,” Ms.me St-Onge.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed his remarks.
“I fully understand the choice of Hockey Quebec, which has lost confidence in Hockey Canada, like all of us here in Ottawa, like parents from one end of this country to the other”, he dropped in a scrum of hurry.
He went on to say that he hoped that “more organizations” would “decide that to protect our young people, to protect this sport that we all love in Canada, we need to see profound changes at Hockey Canada”.
With the collaboration of Mélanie Marquis, The Press
Tim Hortons raises the tone
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
In addition to seeing the payment of government grants suspended until further notice, Hockey Canada has been dropped by some major sponsors in recent months. Tim Hortons was among them, and the company raised the tone again on Wednesday. In a statement, the restaurant chain wrote that it had expressed “on numerous occasions” to Hockey Canada its desire to see it take “strong and definitive actions in order to regain the confidence of Canadians”. However, “we are deeply disappointed with the lack of progress that Hockey Canada has made to date,” it added. Consequently, Tim Hortons has withdrawn from all men’s programs for the 2022-2023 season, which includes the very popular World Junior Championship, the next presentation of which will take place in Canada.