Members of Parliament from four Canadian political parties are calling on the government to convene a judicial inquiry to explore the issue of abuse in sports and give survivors a forum to share their stories.
Conservative MP John Nater said his party is also calling for the immediate removal of Hockey Canada’s board and management team.
“Those who oversaw the cover-up of alleged sexual assaults cannot be trusted to implement the necessary structural changes at Hockey Canada,” Nater wrote in a text message to TSN on Friday. “The Liberal government needs to look at all options to ensure there is adequate leadership at Hockey Canada, whether through independent third-party trusteeship, conservatorship or other measures.”
Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner, NDP MP Peter Julian and Bloc Quebecois MP Sebastien Lemire have joined Nater in calling for an investigation. All four MPs are members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which has been examining Hockey Canada’s response to allegations of sexual abuse. MPs said the committee should also continue its study of Canada’s richest and most powerful national sports organization (NSO) with more hearings and testimony in September.
“The culture we’ve seen in both Hockey Canada and Sport Canada is deeply entrenched,” Nater wrote. “I hope that in-depth research can address some of these issues and provide long-term recommendations. Of course, in the short term, we have yet to see immediate change in both organizations.”
A spokeswoman for Hockey Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A judicial inquiry, which University of Ottawa law professor and constitutional law expert Benoit Pelletier said is the modern equivalent of a royal commission, is usually led by a judge and can last several years. Inquiries have the ability to subpoena witnesses and documents and can hear testimony from witnesses in public or in camera.
“We know it’s not just hockey and there are issues in many sports with violence and sexual violence against both genders,” Hepfner said in an interview with TSN on Thursday. “We have shown through our parliamentary committee that shining a light on the problem can lead to change and force senior officials to be more accountable and to account and understand how widespread this problem is.”
Lemire said it’s important that survivors of abuse in sports other than hockey also have the ability to seek accountability by examining the organizations that govern lower-profile sports in Canada.
“We have to give [survivors] the opportunity to speak,” Lemire said in an interview Thursday.
The issue of abuse in sports has become prominent over the past two months since TSN reported in May that Hockey Canada had settled a lawsuit for $3.55 million over allegations that a woman was sexually assaulted by eight players the Canadian Hockey League after a Hockey Canada 2018. gala event in London, Ont. The allegations were never proven in court.
A parliamentary committee continues to investigate Hockey Canada. Sport Canada has frozen funding for the organization and major sponsors have put their partnerships with Hockey Canada on hold.
Both Hockey Canada and London police have reopened investigations into the assault allegations in London, and the National Hockey League is also investigating. Police in Halifax are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving members of Canada’s 2003 World Junior Team.
“We’ve heard from enough Canadians across the country to know that many of our national sports organizations are in crisis,” Julian said. “It’s not just Hockey Canada. There are a lot of other organizations where we’re seeing issues of sexual violence and sexual abuse that aren’t being dealt with effectively. A judicial inquiry makes a lot of sense because it can actually provide a forum for victims to speak out history and relate their experiences to the Canadian public.”
If the government decides to establish an inquiry, it would be the first to delve into the sports issue since Ontario Judge Charles Dubin presided over eight months of testimony from more than 100 witnesses in 1989 while investigating the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs the performance in international sports. The Dubin Inquiry was formed after Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal after a failed drug test at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Dubin was appointed head of a commission to study drug use in sport in October 1988. His report was presented to the federal government in June 1990.
During testimony this week in Ottawa, the committee heard that Hockey Canada was informed in June 2018 of an alleged sexual assault in London, Ontario involving players on Canada’s world junior hockey team. Sport Canada officials stated that after being informed of the alleged incident, they never shared any details with the Canadian Sport Minister’s office, never followed up with Hockey Canada to determine what had happened to their investigation of the alleged assault and continued to provide Hockey Canada. million dollar funding.
“The government also has an obligation to provide clear, direct and specific answers as to how Sport Canada ignored these allegations, knowing about them since 2018,” Nater wrote.
As of 2018, Canadian NSOs have been required as a condition of receiving government funding to report to Sport Canada the number of cases of alleged abuse reported each year. Several athletes have alleged in interviews with TSN that at least two NSOs have misreported this information.
Julian said it was clear Sport Canada was operating an “honour system” without verifying that the information provided by NSOs was accurate.
A spokesman for Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge said the government is investigating the allegation that some NSOs have not been transparent about the number of abuse allegations they have received.
So far, St-Onge has rejected requests from members of parliament and abuse survivor advocacy groups to call for a cabinet inquiry.
Instead, the minister has sought to focus public attention on a new federal agency called the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner, which is tasked with receiving abuse complaints and investigating them independently of NSOs.
Since the office formally opened in April, weightlifting and volleyball NSOs have become signatories. Hockey Canada has said it will become a front office signee.
“What Canada’s athletes need is action and the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner is now in place,” St-Onge said in a statement sent to TSN on Thursday. “I am working to make it mandatory for all NSOs. I also announced last month that all federal funding agreements will be reviewed. This will require NSOs to be more accountable and transparent.
“Sportspeople have told me that they need an independent mechanism that they can turn to in situations of abuse, mistreatment and discrimination. That’s why we have taken and are taking steps to put it in motion.”
More than 500 current and former gymnasts have asked the government commission for an independent inquiry to examine the allegedly toxic culture within the sport, and on Friday, advocacy groups Global Athlete and Gymnasts for Change Canada in a joint statement called for a judicial investigation.
“It’s time to rethink sport in Canada,” wrote Global Athlete CEO Rob Koehler. “It’s time to correct the power imbalance between sports organizations and athletes that has fostered years of abuse.”
In addition to a judicial inquiry, deputies said they want to continue their study and call more witnesses to testify as early as September about Hockey Canada.
Lemire said he would like to call former Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson to testify about how the organization has historically handled sexual assault allegations. Lemire also said he wants to hear testimony from current and past members of Hockey Canada’s board, the insurance company AIG, which provides Hockey Canada with coverage for abuse claims, and Bob Martin, a former official of the Ontario Provincial Police who is the head of security for Hockey Canada. and the Knights of London.
Julian said the committee should also hear testimony from former sport ministers Kirsty Duncan and Steven Guilbeault about the relationship between Sport Canada and the minister’s office. Duncan was the sports minister from January 2018 until November 2019, when Guilbeault succeeded her. Julian said he also wants St-Onge to testify, for the third time, before the committee.
After hearing Hockey Canada officials say Wednesday that the organization has paid $8.9 million since 1989 to settle 21 cases of alleged sexual assault, Liberal MP Anthony Housefather said in an interview Thursday that he wants the committee expands its study to consider how other NSOs. have faced abuse issues.
“Our committee needs to look deeper into the wider issue of safe sport across all our sports federations,” Housefather said. “Hockey Canada can be the tip of the iceberg or it can be an anomaly. We need to know what the truth is.”