After explicitly stating that “resignations” were needed among Hockey Canada executives, federal sports minister Pascale St-Onge was unimpressed with the defense offered by the interim chair of the Hockey Canada board of directors. ‘organization.
Posted yesterday at 4:12 p.m.
A few weeks before an election in which the nine seats on the Board will be at stake, the elected member relies on the members of Hockey Canada, that is, the 13 federations representing the provinces and territories of the country, to proceed with the “cleaning up that the Canadians are waiting”.
“What we heard today, obviously, is not what I expected from the hearings,” said the minister in a press scrum in Ottawa. The former president of the Board of Hockey Canada, Michael Brind’Amour, as well as his interim successor, Andrea Skinner, were questioned for two hours by members of the Heritage Committee.
Mme Skinner was particularly sharp, accusing the media and the political class of spreading “disinformation”. The Minister’s reply was not long in coming: “What is happening to them at present, and the investigations that my colleagues are conducting, are not a political game and it is not the fault of the media either. »
Following the testimonies of the leaders of the organization, “personally, I do not have confidence that this organization, with the current leaders, has the capacity to renew itself,” she added.
“New Perspectives”
Asked by reporters about Hockey Canada’s refusal to listen to Ottawa’s grievances, Ms.me St-Onge agreed that the board clearly had “no intention of changing direction.” Hence his appeal to members, who will be called upon to vote for the new directors in November. Each federation has a number of voting rights, more or less dictated by the size of the population it represents.
The Minister recalled that the national federations were sovereign and that the political class could not appoint its administrators. However, it is possible for it to reduce or freeze its public funding — which the Government of Canada did in fact last June.
The member for Brome-Missisquoi in the House of Commons was also little moved by the argument of “stability” invoked by Ms.me Skinning. The latter relied in particular on the impending election to keep the leadership in place.
“There has been stability in recent decades within Hockey Canada, which has allowed this culture to be well established, to be well established,” said the elected official. And right now, what we hear is that there is no recognition by the leaders of the organization that their management has participated in protecting players from their responsibility in the face of the allegations. So I think the stability has not been good for the organization.
“On the contrary, it takes new people, new perspectives, and surely experts in governance and also experts in the prevention of sexual violence. »
With the collaboration of Mélanie Marquis, The Press