The federal sport minister is ramping up her criticism of those leading Hockey Canada — an organization accused of mishandling allegations of gang rapes — by urging them to vacate their positions before the sports body is damaged beyond repair.
“I hope they understand the message and leave before they burn it to the ground,” Pascale St-Onge said Thursday after a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill.
Her comments are just the latest salvo aimed at the national ice hockey body.
CBC News has confirmed that Hockey Canada’s board and its provincial members have a conference call scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. Thursday ahead of an in-person meeting set for Oct 15.
The news of the meeting was first reported by TSN.
Earlier Thursday, Canadian Tire announced it is permanently ending its partnership with Hockey Canada.
WATCH | Hockey Canada leaders need to leave before they ‘burn’ the organization ‘to the ground:’ St-Onge
Sport minister says she hopes Hockey Canada leaders leave before they ‘burn’ the organization ‘to the ground’
4 hours ago
Duration 0:47
Sport Minister Pascale St Onge weighs in on sponsors pulling out of Hockey Canada.
“In our view, Hockey Canada continues to resist meaningful change and we can no longer confidently move forward together,” said Jessica Sims, a spokesperson for the Canadian Tire Corporation, Thursday.
“CTC is proud of our commitment to sport and will continue to invest in our beloved national game by redirecting support to hockey-related organizations that better align with our values.”
Telus, which was considered a “premier” sponsor, pulled the plug earlier that morning, saying it no longer will be funding Hockey Canada’s men’s program for the upcoming season.
“We are deeply disheartened by the lack of action and commitment from Hockey Canada to drive necessary cultural change,” the telecommunications company said in a statement.
“Telus will not be sponsoring Hockey Canada’s men’s hockey programs for the 2022-23 season, including the upcoming world juniors tournament. We remain passionate fans and supporters of the sport of hockey and stand committed to enabling systemic change to make hockey safe for all.”
Sobeys and Skip the Dishes, a food delivery app, also announced Thursday they are cutting ties. In a media statement, the grocery store chain said it was “disgusted by all of the allegations and, as importantly, Hockey Canada’s unwillingness to make meaningful change.”
Imperial Oil also said it will not support Hockey Canada men’s programs through its Esso brand in the 2022-2023 season.
The Canadian Tire Corporation said it can no longer confidently move forward with Hockey Canada. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
On Wednesday, Tim Hortons announced it would be pulling its sponsorship from all Hockey Canada men’s hockey programming for the 2022-23 season, including the men’s world junior championships.
Hockey Canada is planning to host the 2023 World Junior Championship in Halifax and Moncton, N.B., from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.
Major sponsors paused funding ahead of the August 2022 world junior championships in Edmonton after TSN reported in May that Hockey Canada had paid an undisclosed settlement to a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by eight players, including members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team.
Hockey Canada has since confirmed it has paid out $8.9 million in settlements to 21 complainants with sexual misconduct claims against its players since 1989.
The organization also has admitted it drew on minor hockey membership fees to pay for uninsured liabilities, including sexual abuse claims.
The CBC’s The Fifth Estateidentified at least 15 cases of alleged group sexual assault involving junior hockey players that have been investigated by police since 1989 — half of which surfaced in the past decade — through a review of public records.
Hockey Canada says no to management changes
The companies’ decisions add corporate pressure to mounting calls for ice hockey’s national governing body to undergo a change in its leadership after a widely panned appearance by one of its executives in front of a parliamentary committee this week.
On Tuesday, interim board chair Andrea Skinner defended Hockey Canada, saying it has an “excellent reputation” and suggesting its critics are scapegoating “hockey as a centrepiece for toxic culture.”
Andrea Skinner, interim chair of the board of directors at Hockey Canada, appears virtually as a witness at a House of Commons committee on Canadian heritage, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 4. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Skinner has insisted that Hockey Canada won’t be making any changes to its management despite a direct request from St-Onge, who has said she believes mass resignations at the governing body are necessary to restore public trust.
At one point, Skinner was asked to grade the performance of Hockey Canada’s CEO Scott Smith, who has been widely condemned for his management of the organization.
“I’m a hard marker, and I think that the circumstances in which Mr. Smith has been working have been really extraordinary and difficult. I would say that he’s conducting himself as an ‘A’ in the circumstances,” she responded.
Skinner’s comments led to something rare in Ottawa: united criticism from the main political parties.
Conservative MP Kevin Waugh, a former television sports journalist, called Hockey Canada’s response to calls for a change in management “arrogant.”
“They’ve doubled down and it’s disgusting, really,” he said Wednesday.
During Tuesday’s committee meeting, Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire said Hockey Canada is “living in a bubble” and is “disconnected” from public opinion.
Those comments were echoed by NDP MP Peter Julian, who called Hockey Canada’s refusal to disclose some information “disturbing.”
WATCH | ‘Hockey Canada has lost the confidence of Canadians,’ Trudeau says
‘Hockey Canada has lost the confidence of Canadians’: Trudeau
8 hours ago
Duration 1:16
As Hockey Canada continues to lose sponsors, including Telus and Tim Hortons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s time for an overhaul of the organization’s leadership.
Those frustrations are shared by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said Thursday it’s time to think about starting a new organization to replace Hockey Canada.
“It is inconceivable that folks at Hockey Canada continue to dig in. It’s not like there’s something extraordinarily special about the people at Hockey Canada that means they are the only people in the country that can run an organization like this,” he said.
“They need to realize that if we have to create an organization, get rid of Hockey Canada and create an organization called ‘Canada Hockey’ instead, people will look at doing that.”
Trudeau said that while the federal government “isn’t in the business” of starting new hockey organizations, he is sure “there will be a vacuum filled up.”
In a statement Thursday morning, Chevrolet Canada reiterated its position from June, saying it has stepped back from its sponsorship activities with Hockey Canada “as we seek more clarity on what specific steps the organization has and will take following the alleged incidents of abuse.”
“We at GM have no tolerance for abuse of any kind and wish to see Hockey Canada return to setting a positive example for all Canadians in all it does,” spokesperson Jennifer Wright said in a statement.
WATCH | Hockey Canada’s interim chair a ‘scapegoat,’ sports minister says:
Hockey Canada’s interim chair a ‘scapegoat,’ sports minister says
23 hours ago
Duration 9:17
Pascale St-Onge says she’s saddened Andrea Skinner, interim chair of Hockey Canada’s board of directors, is the face of its ‘boys’ club problem.’
Both Pepsi and Scotiabank have said their June decisions to pause its sponsorship remains in effect.
“In our open letter in June, we publicly called on Hockey Canada to hold the game to a higher standard and we are disappointed with the lack of progress to date,” the bank said in a statement.
The federal government also has announced it will stop all funding for Hockey Canada until it shows signs of positive change.
Two provincial hockey organizations also have made moves against the national body.
Earlier this week, Hockey Quebec said it has lost confidence in Hockey Canada and will not transfer funds to the national organization.
The Ontario Hockey Federation, the largest of Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial hockey associations, said it has asked Hockey Canada again to not collect the $3 participant assessment fee from its members for the 2022-23 season.
The executive director of the Ontario group said the organization is monitoring the situation.
Hockey New Brunswick and Hockey NL said they are waiting for the results of a review by former Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell, who Hockey Canada hired to lead a review of the organization’s governance structure.
The review is expected to provide interim recommendations before Hockey Canada’s annual general meeting in November.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Three NASA astronauts whose prolonged space station mission ended with a trip to the hospital last month declined to say Friday which one of them was sick.
Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps publicly discussed their spaceflight for the first time since returning from the International Space Station on Oct. 25. They spent nearly eight months in orbit, longer than expected because of all the trouble with Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule and rough weather, including Hurricane Milton.
Soon after their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast, the three were taken to a hospital in nearby Pensacola along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched with them back in March.
One of the Americans ended up spending the night there for an undisclosed “medical issue.” NASA declined to say who was hospitalized or why, citing medical privacy.
When asked at Friday’s news conference which one had been sick, the astronauts refused to comment. Barratt, a doctor who specializes in space medicine, declined to even describe the symptoms that the unidentified astronaut had.
“Spaceflight is still something we don’t fully understand. We’re finding things that we don’t expect sometimes. This was one of those times and we’re still piecing things together on this,” said Barratt, the only member of the crew who had flown in space before.
Epps said everyone is different in how they respond to space — and gravity.
“That’s the part that you can’t predict,” she said, adding, “Every day is better than the day before.”
Dominick said little things like sitting comfortably in a hard chair took several days to get used to once he returned. He said he didn’t use the treadmill at all during his time in space, as part of an experiment to see what equipment might be pared on a long trip to Mars. The first time he walked was when he got out of the capsule.
The two astronauts who served as test pilots for Boeing’s Starliner — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — will remain at the space station until February, flying back with SpaceX. Starliner returned empty in September.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Forty-three monkeys bred for medical research that escaped a compound in South Carolina have been spotted in the woods near the site and workers are using food to try to recapture them, authorities said Friday.
The Rhesus macaques made a break for it Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee didn’t fully lock a door as she fed and checked on them, officials said.
“They are very social monkeys and they travel in groups, so when the first couple go out the door the others tend to just follow right along,” Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard told CBS News.
Westergaard said his main goal is to have the monkeys returned safely with no other problems. “I think they are having an adventure,” he said.
The monkeys on Friday were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis compound and are cooing at the monkeys inside, police said in a statement.
“The primates are exhibiting calm and playful behavior, which is a positive indication,” the police statement said, adding company workers are closely watching the monkeys while keeping their distance as they work to safely recapture them.
The monkeys are about the size of a cat. They are all females weighing about 7 pounds (3 kilograms).
Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police all said the monkeys pose no risk to public health. The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical and other researchers.
“They are not infected with any disease whatsoever. They are harmless and a little skittish,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday.
Authorities still recommend that people who live near the compound about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee shut their windows and doors and call 911 if they see the monkeys. Approaching them could make them more skittish and harder to capture, officials said.
Eve Cooper, a biology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who has studied rhesus macaques, said the animals have the potential to be dangerous and urged people to keep their distance.
Rhesus macaques monkeys can be aggressive. And some carry the herpes B virus, which can be fatal to humans, Cooper said.
However, Alpha Genesis states on its website that it specializes in pathogen-free primates. Cooper noted that there are pathogen-free populations of rhesus macaques that have been quarantined and tested.
“I would give them a wide berth,” Cooper said. “They’re unpredictable animals. And they can behave quite aggressively when they’re afraid.”
Alpha Genesis provides primates for research worldwide at its compound about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.
Locally, it is known as “the monkey farm.” And there is more amusement than panic around Yemassee and its population of about 1,100 just off Interstate 95 about 2 miles from Auldbrass Plantation, a Frank Lloyd Wright house designed in the 1930s.
There have been escapes before, but the monkeys haven’t caused problems, said William McCoy, who owns Lowcountry Horology, a clock and watch repair shop.
“They normally come home because that’s where the food is,” he said.
McCoy has lived in Yemassee for about two years and while he plans to stay away from the monkeys, he has his own light-hearted plan to get them back.
“I’m stocking up bananas, maybe they’ll show up,” McCoy said.
The Alpha Genesis compound is regularly inspected by federal officials.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 in part after officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2014 and an additional 19 got out in 2016.
The company’s fine was also issued because of individual monkey escapes as well as the killing of one monkey by others when it was placed in the wrong social group, according to a report from the USDA.
The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now sent a letter Thursday to the USDA asking the agency to immediately send an inspector to the Alpha Genesis facility, conduct a thorough investigation and treat them as a repeated violator. The group was involved in the 2018 fine against the company.
“The clear carelessness which allowed these 40 monkeys to escape endangered not only the safety of the animals, but also put the residents of South Carolina at risk,” wrote Michael Budkie, executive director of the group.
The USDA, which has inspected the compound 10 times since 2020, didn’t immediately respond to the letter.
The facility’s most recent federal inspection in May showed there were about 6,700 primates on site and no issues.
In a 2022 review, federal veterinarians reported two animals died when their fingers were trapped in structures and they were exposed to harsh weather. They also found cages weren’t adequately secure. Inspectors said criminal charges, civil penalties or other sanctions could follow if the problems weren’t fixed.
Since then, Alpha Genesis has undergone six inspections with minor problems reported only once.
In January 2023, the USDA said temperatures were out of the 45 to 85 degree Fahrenheit (7.2 to 29.5 degree Celsius) required range at some of the compound’s monkey cages. The inspection found moldy food in one bin, sharp edges on a gate that could cut an animal and sludge, food waste, used medical supplies, mechanical equipment, and general construction debris on the grounds.
Supporters of medical research involving nonhuman primates said they are critical to lifesaving medical advances like creating vaccines against COVID-19 because of their similarities to people. Keeping a domestic supply of the animals is critical to prevent shortages for U.S. researchers.
Humans have been using the rhesus macaque for scientific research since the late 1800s. Scientists believe that rhesus macaques and humans split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93% of the same DNA.
These monkeys have been launched into space on V2 rockets, used for AIDS research, had their genome mapped and made stars of their own reality television show. They were in such high demand in the early 2000s that a shortage led to scientists paying up to $10,000 per animal.
Outside of rats and mice, rhesus macaques are one of the most studied animals on the planet, said Dario Maestripieri, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago who wrote the 2007 book “Macachiavellian Intelligence: How Rhesus Macaques and Humans Have Conquered the World.”
The animals are very family oriented, siding with relatives when fights break out. And they’re adept at building political alliances in the face of threats from other monkeys. But they can be painful to watch. Monkeys with lower status in the hierarchy live in a constant state of fear and intimidation, Maestripieri said.
“In some ways, they kind of represent some of the worst aspects of human nature,” Maestripieri said.
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Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky, and Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks with reporters after chairing a special cabinet committee working on Canada’s plan to deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration. Freeland says she’s stood up for Canadian interests in the past and is ready to go another round. (Nov. 8, 2024)
