Three weeks following appearing badly before the elected officials of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Hockey Canada apologized Thursday, promising to relaunch the investigation into the gang rape that occurred in 2018 and involved eight players playing under its banner.
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– Listen to Pascale St-Onge’s press briefing on QUB radio:
On June 20, Hockey Canada assured that it had done everything in its power to conduct an independent investigation aimed at shedding light on the sad events of June 2018. On Thursday, the national body instead noted the damage and admitted its wrongdoing.
This is why the federation promised that the 19 players present in June 2018 as part of a Hockey Canada Foundation gala in London would be obliged to cooperate in the investigation, which had not been the case until ‘now.
“We hear your anger and disappointment with Hockey Canada, and your feelings are completely legitimate. We know that our response has been insufficient to the actions of some members of the 2018 National Junior Team, or even to end the culture of toxic behavior in hockey. We are sincerely sorry,” Hockey Canada wrote in its letter.
Any player who refuses to cooperate will suffer “lifetime exclusion from Hockey Canada activities, on the ice and elsewhere,” assures the federation.
A good step
After reading the letter, the federal Minister of Sports, Pascale St-Onge, was encouraged, but will wait before saying she is completely satisfied.
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Federal Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge said she was encouraged following reading the content of Hockey Canada’s letter.
“I think the commitments that are made are going in the right direction, but I expect boots to follow lips so they will have to make a culture change in Canada,” she warned. “Now, it takes actions that follow statements,” she insisted.
Other commitments
In its letter, Hockey Canada also confirmed that it wants to work in partnership with the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner.
This was also a condition imposed by Minister St-Onge to restore federal funding to Hockey Canada, which was withdrawn in the wake of the events.
The institution has also made known that it is committed to imposing mandatory training on sexual violence and consent for all high performance players, staff and volunteers.
A comprehensive review of Hockey Canada’s governance by an independent third party will be conducted and an independent and confidential complaints mechanism will be established.
- Listen to Alexandre Moranville-Ouellet’s commentary at LCN:
Too little too late?
In the eyes of politicians, these are once once more laudable proposals, but which should have been implemented sooner.
“This is the attitude we expected from Hockey Canada, but four years too late,” responded Bloc Québécois Sports spokesperson Sébastien Lemire.
“We will have to ensure that all the measures announced are implemented and that the process remains a sincere and transparent approach that will allow Hockey Canada to regain the confidence of citizens, parliamentarians and its athletes. We also expect that the announced independent investigation will affect governance and also target the decision-makers who obviously decided to cover up the affair in 2018.
“Hockey Canada and its leaders must remain accountable for their mismanagement of the affair and will have to follow up on the actions announced today in committee, before parliamentarians,” he concluded.
Significant losses
The victim of the aggression had concluded an agreement of the order of 3.55 million in damages with Hockey Canada and the alleged attackers have not been identified.
Since then, Hockey Canada’s reputation has taken a hit and several big-name sponsors have chosen to disassociate themselves from its activities, Scotiabank, Tim Hortons and Esso.
– With the collaboration of Guillaume St-Pierre
