Hockey Canada executives told a House of Commons committee Wednesday that nine complainants alleging sexual abuse have received $7.6 million in settlements since 1989 from a dedicated fund maintained in part by membership fees.
Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith told the standing committee on Canadian Heritage that he will not resign from his position. He told MPs he’s capable of creating change within the embattled organization.
Hockey Canada chief financial officer Brian Cairo told the committee that of the $7.6 million, $6.8 million was for settlements related to Graham James, a former junior hockey coach convicted of sexually assaulting young hockey players.
Cairo said the fund is generated by Hockey Canada membership fees and investments.
Hockey Canada says it has paid out 9 settlement payments from the National Equity Fund totalling $7.6 million. The fund is made up in part by membership fees.
Both Cairo and Smith defended the existence of the fund, saying it’s necessary because the organization’s insurance won’t cover all types of claims. Cairo cited the James case as an example.
“The insurance companies were not going to insure us for those types of instances,” Cairo told the committee.
But Cairo later said Hockey Canada settled an additional 12 sexual misconduct claims during the same time period with $1.3 million paid through insurance.
“We haven’t used money to protect our image. We’ve used money to respond [to] and support victims … so we’ve used money to support families,” Smith said.
Hockey Canada President Scott Smith: “We haven’t used money to protect our image.” (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Hockey Canada announced earlier this month that it will no longer use the fund to settle sexual assault claims.
In May 2022, Hockey Canada settled a lawsuit seeking $3.55 million. The lawsuit was filed in April by a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by eight former CHL players after a Hockey Canada Foundation event in London, Ont., in June 2018.
The allegations have not been proven in court. The identities of the players allegedly involved and the alleged victim are not publicly known. The terms of the settlement, including how much Hockey Canada paid the complainant, are not public.
Barry Lorenzetti, CEO of Hockey Canada’s insurance broker BFL Canada, told the committee that Hockey Canada’s insurer for sexual misconduct claims, AIG Canada, agreed to let the organization settle the case using money from the fund.
But Cairo told the committee earlier that Hockey Canada now intends to recover the money it spent in the settlement from AIG.
Lorenzetti said that was news to him.
“The subject, to my recollection or to my knowledge, never came up as to whether [AIG] would reopen the claim down the road if Hockey Canada sought from them compensation or indemnification,” Lorenzetti told the committee.
WATCH | Hockey Canada CEO says he’s ‘prepared to face the consequences’ after second day of hearings
Hockey Canada CEO says he’s ‘prepared to face the consequences’ after second day of hearings
9 hours ago
Duration 1:06
Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith says that although he believes he’s the ‘right person to get Hockey Canada to the right place,’ he’s open to resigning and a governance review.
Lorenzetti said that, based on his experience in the insurance industry, the existence of Hockey Canada’s fund for settling claims is not unusual.
“We deal with thousands and thousands and thousands of clients right across Canada and internationally. It is not uncommon … for a corporation to have a reserve fund or a fund for uninsured losses or claims that aren’t recoverable,” he said.
“I think it’s prudent risk management and prudent practice.”
Hockey Canada hired an independent investigator, Henein Hutchison LLP, after it learned of the alleged assault. Police in London, Ont., launched a criminal investigation shortly after. At the committee Wednesday, the Hockey Canada executives said the firm was paid between $280,000 and $287,000 out of the National Equity Fund.
Members of Hockey Canada’s leadership, including Smith, are facing multiple calls to resign and let a new team bring in changes to the organization and the sport.
Several MPs at committee expressed dissatisfaction with Smith’s leadership. Conservative MP John Nater asked him if he’d quit.
“For the good of hockey, for the good of the countless volunteers across this country, the good work countless blameless people are doing in the sport of hockey, I strongly believe there needs to be new leadership within Hockey Canada,” Nater said.
WATCH | MP John Nater questions Hockey Canada CEO during second day of committee hearings
MP John Nater questions Hockey Canada CEO during second day of committee hearings
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Duration 1:07
Nater asked Hockey Canada’s CEO Scott Smith if he would agree to step down as his organization confronts allegations of sexual misconduct. Smith said he would step down if the board of directors decides his leadership is no longer needed.
“Will you do that? Will you step down for new leadership to take over?”
Smith said in response that he has no plans to resign.
“I’m prepared to take on this responsibility, for change within our game, I believe I’ve got the experience to do it,” he told the committee.
Smith said he’s prepared to step down if Hockey Canada’s board or a governance review team decides he’s not up to the task. He also apologized for how the organization initially responded to the 2018 case of alleged sexual assault.
“We should have done more, and could have done more, and could have done things quicker. And so I apologize for that,” Smith said.
Bloc Quebecois MP Sébastien Lemire and NDP MP Peter Julian also voiced doubts about Smith’s ability to lead Hockey Canada going forward.
“The Canadian public has lost confidence in Hockey Canada. Of that there is no doubt,” Julian said.
“I find this hearing today is really the last opportunity for Hockey Canada to establish some credibility.”
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather commended Hockey Canada’s efforts to change but said they’re too little and too late.
“I don’t think in any way they go far enough … there needs to be a bigger cultural change in Hockey Canada than you’re currently promising today,” he said.
“There’s times that good people have to step aside because the public has lost confidence in them, and I’m afraid this might be one of these times.”
Nater, Richard Martel and Karen Vecchi, three Conservative MPs on the committee, said in a media statement following the hearing that Hockey Canada is a “secretive and unaccountable organization.”
“It is clear that Hockey Canada sweeps cases under the rug and moves on,” the statement reads.
“Senior management within the organization has not shown Canadians that they are capable of taking the necessary actions to hold perpetrators accountable and prevent acts of sexual violence from occurring in the future. This has to change.”
Leagues say sexual misconduct cases not reported to Hockey Canada
Ontario Hockey League (OHL) commissioner David Branch, Western Hockey League (WHL) commissioner Ron Robison and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) commissioner Gilles Courteau told the committee that while they were aware of a number of sexual misconduct complaints involving players in their leagues over the last five years, they did not inform Hockey Canada about them.
QMJHL Commissioner Gilles Courteau appears as a witness before the standing committee on Canadian Heritage in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Courteau said the QMJHL has suspended two players over sexual misconduct complaints in the last five years.
Branch said there was one complaint of sexual misconduct directed at an OHL player in the same time period. That player was suspended, he said, and required to participate in educational programs as a condition of reinstatement.
Robison said the WHL has dealt with two reports of sexual misconduct over the last five years. He said police investigated both cases and the players involved were suspended from the league.
All commissioners testified that they did not report the cases to Hockey Canada.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
