Hockey Canada execs could be asked to testify on lawsuit settlement within days

Hockey Canada executives sued in front of Ottawa’s parliamentary subcommittee for eight Canadian hockey league players accused of sexually assaulting a woman, including some members of Canada’s 2017-18 World Junior Team. You may be asked to testify about your decision to resolve.

A woman not identified in court records claimed that the assault occurred in June 2018 in London, Ontario. Hockey A hotel following a Canadian event. Her allegations were included in a proceeding filed on April 20. solved.

Plaintiffs have asked the judge to award $ 3.55 million. The settlement amount is unknown. The allegations against the player were not substantiated in court and none of the defendants submitted a response.

Canada’s sports minister, Pascal Sto Onji, said last week that he had ordered a financial audit of hockey Canada to determine if taxpayer money was used to resolve the case.

Kevin Waugh, a conservative MP on behalf of Saskatoon-Grasswood and a member of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Canadian Cultural Heritage, called on the subcommittee to testify to hockey Canadian authorities on Wednesday about allegations of abuse. He said he could vote on whether to start soon. Create documents related to the resolution of all abuses.

Mr. War set aside the current work of a subcommittee to review bill C-11, a law that would update Canada’s decades-old broadcast law, late Monday by Conservative Rep. Rachel Thomas, Canada. He said he had submitted a motion to pay attention to hockey.

“We must immediately enter this and summon witnesses,” War said. “This just brings back so many memories of Graham James. I thought I’d done this after Sheldon Kennedy and Theoren Fleury, but I don’t think so. We’re right now. Talking about a group rape allegation that could involve one in three guys on the Team Canada roster. How did Hockey Canada keep this quiet for four years? I’m stunned by this organization. And I’m surprised that this story is still mostly buried in the Canadian media. “

Eleven subcommittee members (five Liberal Party, four Conservative Party, one NDP member, and one Bloc Québécois member) are likely to vote for Thomas’ motion on Wednesday, according to War. He added that all testimony was made public and the Sub-Committee had the authority to summon hockey Canadian officials who would not accept the invitation to testimony.

War’s comments come a few days after St. Onji said he would summon and testify to hockey Canada executives.

“What I want to know, and what every Canadian wants to know, was there any public funding used to hide that horrifying story of mass rape?” St-Onge June 2 Told the reporters.

“Another thing Canadians want to know is how such an important organization can ensure that players are not responsible for these claims and that most players are currently playing in the NHL. And I think Canadians are worth knowing. “

The NHL announced on May 26 that it would begin investigating the allegations and officially notified the NHL Players Association on June 3 as required by the NHL / NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The federal government has jurisdiction over Hockey Canada. This is because the Federation is one of more than 50 publicly funded national sporting organizations.

Hockey Canada received $ 33.7 million over the eight years from 2008-09 to 2016-17, according to documents obtained through Canada’s Access to Information Act.

It is unclear how many witnesses the subcommittee will call and how long they will testify. Congress will take summer vacation and will sit until June 23 before returning to September 19.

Hocky Canada spokeswoman Esther Madziya, who did not answer the question as to whether the organization would cooperate with government inquiries, notified the London police of the allegations in a statement on May 25, calling the Toronto law firm Henein Hutchison LLP. I wrote that I was hired. Investigation.

Ariane Joazard-Bélizaire, a spokesman for St-Onge, wrote in an email to TSN on Monday that government officials are hoping that Hockey Canada will share Henein Hutchison’s report with them.

Hockey Canada is not the first national sports organization under government supervision.

In April 2021, Canadian heritage officials asked Canadian Artistic Swimming executives to testify after claiming that five women, formerly members of the National Artistic Swimming Team, had been abused by their coaches. .. A former artistic swimming athlete has filed a class action against Canadian artistic swimming for being psychologically abused and harassed during training.

The proceedings were active and the CAS authorities did not testify as Congress dissolved before the September 2021 federal elections.

St-Onge also ordered an audit of the Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton after a group of more than 60 athletes wrote an open letter to the organization, claiming it was toxic. Joazard-Bélizaire said the audits are conducted by an independent company hired by the Office of the Chief Auditor of Canadian Cultural Heritage.

“The purpose of the recipient audit is to ensure that the organization complies with the terms of the donation agreement,” writes Joazard-Bélizaire. “Generally, the recipient’s compliance audit is not published.”