As scandals continue to mount at Hockey Canada's doorstep, a local politician continues to investigate the now maligned organization's practices regarding sexual assault investigations.
Perth-Wellington MP John Nater is also a Vice Chair on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, who are investigating Hockey Canada. Nater says after learning of the sexual assault allegations, to then learn Hockey Canada was using kid's registration fees for payoffs for those allegations, it caused even more uproar beyond the seriousness of the original allegations.
"Frankly, the fact that Hockey Canada kept quiet about this, you know, they were before the committee, they insinuated that there were some sort of investments that they liquidated to make this happen. Never once, never once, did they come before the committee and say this fund was there."
Nater says Hockey Canada has lost the trust of the country, and massive reparations must be made, including a full investigation and reworking of how the organization operates. That process will continue with more hearings before the Heritage Committee this week. Nater adds there are still many questions that need answering.
"What has Hockey Canada done in these last number of years? How many accusations have been made? How many settlements have been offered? How much money has been paid out in the past number of years in situations such as this? There has to be clarity and there has to be accountability for Hockey Canada."
The discovered misuse of registration funds to pay off accusers in sexual assault cases, along with the current allegations and the way Hockey Canada has silenced them are unacceptable to all Canadians, Nater says.
"And when we see situations where, frankly, there hasn't been a follow-up, there hasn't been accountability in these situations, I think that's troubling, disappointing and quite frankly frustrating for so many people that we haven't had those answers from Hockey Canada."
Nater also adds that the way Hockey Canada has operated is completely unacceptable, as is the culture of silence regarding sexual assault that plagues our national sport. He says a new investigatory process must be part of Hockey Canada's sexual assault mandate going forward.
"And it has to be external to Hockey Canada itself. It has to be outside of Hockey Canada, a third party, and they have to have the resources and the ability to get to the bottom of things. They need to be funded externally, and they need to have access to every piece of information and evidence that may be available within Hockey Canada."
You can listen to the full interview between CKNX reporter Ryan Drury and Perth-Wellington MP John Nater here, courtesy of the "Instigating with Clarkey and Drury" show on Wightman TV:
[audio mp3="https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/John_Nater_Segment_Instigating_Show28.mp3"][/audio]
Hockey Canada put out a statement on Monday, claiming they have a new "Action Plan, which includes commitments in key areas of accountability, governance, independent sport safety checks, and standards, education and training." These actions include:
-Adopting the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport 6.0.
-Implementing a comprehensive tracking and reporting system for all complaints of maltreatment, abuse or harassment. The results will be published publicly annually to hold Hockey Canada accountable.
-Increasing and enhancing training for players, coaches, employees and volunteers to include additional focus on masculinity, consent and toxic behaviours, and to drive a culture in hockey that encourages all participants to speak up.
-A comprehensive review of all existing training programs by an independent specialist.
-Implementing enhanced character screening for all high-performance players.
-Mandating that breaching the Code of Conduct or failing to participate in any investigation could result in a lifetime ban from Hockey Canada programs.
-Prioritizing and investing in a robust department focused on safe and inclusive sport initiatives, including combatting harassment, abuse, injury prevention, mental health and gender equity.
Hockey Canada says these commitments are in addition to those announced on July 14th, 2022:
-Conducting an independent, third-party review of Hockey Canada's governance structures and systems. This review will include a review of the National Equity Fund.
-Becoming one of the first national sport organizations to become a full signatory to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) which came into effect in June 2022, and ceding oversight for all complaints, allegations or concerns with national programming to the OSIC.
-Establishing a new, independent and confidential mechanism for the intake of maltreatment complaints for all other levels of hockey (regional, provincial and local) not covered by the OSIC.
"We recognize that there is an urgent need to address the types of behaviours that are rightly causing Canadians to question aspects of our game," claims Scott Smith, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. "Culture change will not occur overnight, but with this Action Plan we are fully committed to making the meaningful changes necessary to ensure the safety, welfare and well-being of everyone who participates in, and enjoys the sport of hockey."
