Hockey Canada has hired former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell to lead a review of the organization’s governance structure amid growing calls for its leaders to step back from their handling of alleged sexual assault cases.
The sport’s national governing body is facing intense public and political scrutiny over its cultural issues and how it settled a $3.5million lawsuit over a 2018 alleged group sexual assault case involving Canadian Hockey League players, including some members of the Canadian World Juniors team at the time.
“We have heard Canadians loud and clear and are committed to making the changes necessary to enable us to be the organization Canadians expect,” wrote Michael Brind’Amour, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hockey Canada, in a press release.
The announcement comes as minor hockey associations begin to push back and cancel funding. The main sponsors have given up and a new police investigation has been opened into an alleged 2003 gang sexual assault in Halifax involving World Juniors players.
Conservative MP John Nater, who sits on the parliamentary committee investigating Hockey Canada’s handling of sexual assault complaints, said he continues to call for “an immediate change in leadership at Hockey Canada” despite the new exam.
“Hockey Canada officials over the past 20 years are not the right people to oversee this much-needed change,” Nater wrote in a statement to CBC News. “The current leaders of Hockey Canada have shown that they are more concerned with protecting themselves than uncovering the truth or fighting the culture of silence.”
Hockey Canada president and chief operating officer Scott Smith resisted the resignation despite MPs from several political parties calling on him to do so. Smith promised at a parliamentary committee last week to lead a culture change with the organization.
The mandate of the new third-party review is to make recommendations to ensure that Hockey Canada follows “the best practices of a national sport organization of similar size, scope and influence in Canada,” Brind’ wrote. Armor.
The review will also look at the controversial ‘National Equity Fund’ which has been used to pay 9 of 21 settlements for sexual abuse allegations since 1989. The fund was used to settle up to the lawsuit’s maximum of $3.5 million over the alleged 2018 sexual assault.
Parents and hockey associations were outraged to learn that this fund is made up in part of their registration fees. At least one local associations in Quebec cut its funding on concerns and encouraged others to do the same.
The Minister of Sports, Pascale St-Onge, said she was impatient to read the conclusions of Judge Cromwell.
“Hockey Canada has hired a very credible individual to review their organization,” she said.
Cromwell served as a Supreme Court justice from 2008 to 2016 and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada after leaving office. He currently works at the law firm BLG as a mediator of disputes involving the public sector.
Cromwell was also operated by now independent MP Jody Wilson-Raybould during the SNC-Lavalin case circa 2019 to advise her on the limits of solicitor-client privilege following her resignation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.
LOOK / Hockey Canada paid 21 sexual misconduct settlements
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says the review is a positive step, if it is made public and the process is transparent. But he said the published terms of reference lacked a clear review of the council’s processes related to settlement agreements for sexual assault claims.
“Nor do I think this should be used as an excuse to do nothing to deal with the executives who were involved in mishandling these issues until November,” Housefather said.
Hockey Canada officials have revealed the organization has paid nearly $9 million in settlements since 1989 to 21 people alleging sexual misconduct.
NDP MP Peter Julian said on Tuesday he was asking the parliamentary committee investigating Hockey Canada to resume this month and call the three sports ministers in office since 2018 about their oversight of Hockey Canada.
Hockey Canada informed Sport Canada of the allegation in 2018, but the department never informed the federal sports minister’s office. Then-sports minister Kristy Duncan had a directive in place that the minister’s office be notified.
“I believe our next step should also include having before us the three then sports ministers, Minister Duncan, who gave the original directive that any information regarding sexual violence or sexual abuse should go directly to his office, then Minister Steven Guilbeault and Minister St-Onge.
St-Onge has already testified once before the committee and reiterated today that she has ordered that all allegations be reported to her office and that she is working with Sport Canada to ensure they have “all tools and expertise”.
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WATCH | Woman says she cooperated with police investigation into alleged sexual assault
The complainant who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Canadian hockey players on the 2018 World Juniors team says she cooperated fully at all times with a police investigation into her case – although Hockey Canada initially said that she had not.
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