Hockey Canada president and CEO Scott Smith came under heavy criticism during a government hearing Wednesday that examined how the organization responded to an alleged sexual assault in 2018 involving players on the world junior team. canada
The hearing came after former NHL player and abuse survivor Sheldon Kennedy on Tuesday night criticized Smith and called for him, his leadership team and Hockey Canada’s board to resign en masse. Several members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage said Wednesday they agree with Kennedy.
“There has to be a bigger culture change in Hockey Canada than you’re promising,” Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told Smith. “There are times when good people have to step aside because the public has lost faith in them. I’m afraid this is one of those times.”
Conservative MP John Nater also called on Smith to resign.
“For the sake of hockey, for the sake of the countless volunteers in this country, for the good work that countless and blameless people do in the sport of hockey, I strongly believe that there needs to be new leadership in Hockey Canada”, Nater. said “Will you? Will you resign for new leadership to take over?”
Smith said he doesn’t understand that Canadians’ confidence in Hockey Canada has been shaken.
“I’m ready to take on that responsibility of changing our game,” Smith told Nater. “I think I have the experience to do that. If our board or the governance review that we’ve outlined in our action plan suggests that I’m not the person, I’m willing to accept that.”
Smith also addressed Kennedy’s call for his resignation.
“I have had a long personal and business relationship with Sheldon Kennedy,” he said. “I respect him, like all of you. It was hard to read his comments yesterday, but I still love him very much.”
Smith, who was named the organization’s CEO on July 1 but joined Hockey Canada’s headquarters in 1997, was also repeatedly questioned by members of parliament over his role in the to approve the settlement of the $3.55 million lawsuit filed in connection with the alleged assault.
The four-hour hearing had been planned for weeks and was called after Smith and other Hockey Canada officials testified for the first time before the committee on June 20.
During Wednesday’s hearing, members of parliament demanded information on a variety of issues, ranging from the role Hockey Canada’s board played in agreeing to settle the lawsuit related to the alleged 2018 bombing to an alleged lack of diversity within the organization’s top management, down to historical data. about how many other claims have been settled by Hockey Canada.
Smith was pressed repeatedly to know if he agreed that Hockey Canada is in a state of crisis. He declined to agree with the sentiment, even though major sponsors have ended their relationships with Hockey Canada and the federal government has frozen public funding for the organization.
The storm surrounding the organization has grown since TSN reported in May that Hockey Canada settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight former Canadian Hockey League players, at least some of whom played on the Canadian World Junior team, following a June 2018 Hockey Canada event in London, Ont.
The lawsuit was settled weeks after it was filed, and the allegations in the case have not been proven.
Hockey Canada has reopened the investigation into the allegations and the whistleblower in the case has agreed to cooperate. The National Hockey League is investigating and police in London have said they have also reopened a criminal investigation. London police initially closed their investigation into the allegations in February 2019 without bringing any criminal charges.
Glen McCurdie, Hockey Canada’s former vice-president of insurance and risk management, began Wednesday’s testimony by telling the audience that at 12:08 a.m. (ET) on June 19, 2018, he received a call from Hockey Canada employees Denise Pattyn and Scott Salmond. , who told him that a woman’s stepfather had contacted them claiming there had been an assault in London.
After two mid-afternoon conferences with colleagues, McCurdie said he called London police at 6.44pm the same day. He said he spoke to two officers and “they were both pretty rough with me.” McCurdie said that at 8:14 p.m., London police called and told him an officer had been assigned to the case.
After CHL president Dan MacKenzie made his opening statement, saying, “Players, regardless of skill, need to know they cannot act with impunity,” attention turned to Smith.
In what would be a recurring refrain throughout the hearing, Smith insisted he would not resign from his position. He stated that he served at the pleasure of Hockey Canada’s board of directors and that the board had affirmed his support.
TSN reached out to Hockey Canada president Michael Brind’Amour for comment, who had not responded by the time of publication.
Smith said he and other Hockey Canada executives discussed the 2018 sexual assault allegations in London with board members, who agreed to settle the whistleblower’s lawsuit “to the fullest extent possible.” Smith said there are no records of those board meeting discussions because they were held in camera.
Smith defended Hockey Canada’s decision to settle the case on behalf of the CHL and the eight former CHL players named as defendants, called John Does 1-8 in court records, without notifying them beforehand.
“We advised all the players after we agreed with the young lady,” Smith stated. “We made the decision to settle on behalf of Hockey Canada and the other defendants, and we did so in the young woman’s best interests to protect her privacy as well as her future benefits.
“…We didn’t want to subject her to any more discussion or debate than we’ve now seen in the media in the last 10 to 12 days. We made that decision at the time to help her move forward and we stand by the decision to settle with her”.
Brian Cairo, Hockey Canada’s chief financial officer, supported Smith’s contention that settling the case was the right decision.
“We didn’t know all the details of the night, but we believe some damage was done,” Cairo said. “We had two options. One was to work with the young woman to reach a resolution that would meet her needs and not re-victimize her or force her into litigation, which would likely reveal her identity and essentially condone this behavior to the Canadians
Hockey Canada officials also revealed during testimony Wednesday that since 1989, nine settlements worth a collective $7.6 million have been made in connection with sexual assault allegations using the National Fund for ‘Equity of the organization. This total does not include the recent settlement related to 2018. Fully $6.8 million of the total was related to incidents involving Graham James.
Hockey Canada has also paid Toronto law firm Henein Hutchison LLP $287,000 to handle its investigation into the 2018 allegations, Smith said.
Housefather was among the MPs who criticized Hockey Canada, saying that settling the case without first consulting the accused players was “very unusual”.
“I can only say that you need better legal advice and better lawyers…” Housefather said.
After the hearing, Smith told reporters that plans are underway for the World Juniors to take place Aug. 9-20 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“I know in Canada the World Juniors is an event that people associate with Hockey Canada, but it’s not,” Smith said. “It’s an IIHF event. We are one of 10 teams. In discussions with the IIHF, they are committed to honoring this event. Unfortunately, due to COVID and some issues over Christmas, we were unable to finish the event for this age group, and the IIHF and we made a commitment to bring it to Edmonton…
“…This age group, even though it was a similar age group in 2018, they are different players. We hope to be able to provide that.”