Hockey Canada is at the centre of a devastating sexual assault scandal that has shaken Canadian trust in the sport and its institutions.
The sports organization settled a lawsuit with a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by eight players from the Canadian Hockey League in London, Ont., in 2018 — and several other allegations of group sexual assaults by Canadian hockey players have surfaced.
In July, Hockey Canada’s executives revealed that the organization has paid $8.9 million in settlements to 21 sexual assault complainants since 1989, using a slush fund comprising membership fees from young players across Canada.
The fallout has been extraordinary. On Saturday, Hockey Canada interim board chair Andrea Skinner submitted her resignation, CBC News confirmed.
As the country’s national self-governing body for amateur hockey, Hockey Canada is responsible for managing and expanding hockey programs across the country at all playing levels — from the local grassroots all the way to the World Championships and Olympics.
“I think this is a pivotal point in Canadian history,” Laura Robinson, a sports journalist and the author of Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sport, told CBC News on Friday.
But what does that really mean? CBC News explains the organization’s role in the Canadian hockey landscape.
What is Hockey Canada?
Hockey Canada has a range of goals and responsibilities, according to its bylaws and regulations.
For one, it establishes a set of playing rules for amateur hockey games across the country, so that every game and practice under its umbrella is played at the same standard. It promotes the sport around Canada and arranges for national teams to play in international tournaments.
It also provides training to hockey players, coaches and referees, and raises money and redistributes those funds to local hockey clubs and member associations, among other things.
WATCH | Laura Robinson explains Hockey Canada’s role in the sport:
What is Hockey Canada’s role in the sport?
13 hours ago
Duration 7:52
Laura Robinson, a sports journalist who wrote a book about hazing and sexual assault in Canadian junior hockey, discusses the role Hockey Canada plays in the sport across the country amid ongoing controversy involving the organization.
But it also represents Canada in the wider hockey world as a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, a worldwide governing body that develops and organizes the sport of ice hockey around the globe.
The Canadian organization has existed in various forms and under different names for 108 years.
“Before Hockey Canada, there was the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association [CAHA] and the Canadian Hockey Association. But in those days you couldn’t have a professional player play in an amateur association,” Robinson said.
In 1998, Hockey Canada — as we know it today — was formed after a merger with the CAHA.
Who are its members?
Two players wearing Canadian Hockey League jerseys are pictured. Many of Hockey Canada’s 13 branch members are now distancing themselves from the organization as its mishandling of sexual abuse claims comes to light. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press)
Hockey Canada has 13 member branches, each of which represent a province or region in Canada, with some exceptions. Ontario is represented by three different branches, for example, while Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon are represented by Hockey North.
All of these member organizations must conform to certain rules and regulations decided by Hockey Canada — it’s a condition they agree to in order to join the club, according to the constitution’s bylaws.
Many of these branch members are now distancing themselves from Hockey Canada, as the organization’s mishandling of sexual abuse claims comes to light.
There are also 12 partner organizations that have a significant stake in the game of hockey in Canada, such as the National Hockey League; U Sports, which oversees university-level sports in Canada; and the Canadian Hockey League, of which the players involved in the alleged 2018 group sexual assault were members.
Money from Hockey Canada’s National Equity Fund was used to pay settlements to some of the alleged victims.
What does that mean for players?
If you compete in a sport at the local level, “you have to belong to your provincial body, which belongs to the national body,” Robinson told CBC News.
“If an athlete has a dream to go to the World [Championships] or the Olympics, they have to belong to that national organization. And in this case, it’s Hockey Canada.”
Local players in Canada who belong to a team or league affiliated with a provincial organization have access to Hockey Canada’s National Insurance Program.
According to Hockey Saskatchewan’s website, the 13 member organizations are “specifically named as an insured, and all sub-associations, leagues and teams which form a part of Hockey Canada.”
So if a player is injured while participating in a game or a practice sanctioned by Hockey Canada, they are covered by insurance. That’s why some of the 13 member groups are withholding $3 membership fees (which go toward what Hockey Canada says are operational costs) but are continuing to pay insurance fees.
How is Hockey Canada’s board of directors elected?
Andrea Skinner, interim chair of Hockey Canada’s board of directors until she submitted her resignation on Saturday, defended the organization during an appearance before the House of Commons heritage committee on Tuesday. (Courtesy airdberlis.com)
Hockey Canada’s board of directors is made up of volunteers nominated and elected by their peers in the provincial member organizations. The current directors are from Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.
Skinner — who made a controversial appearance during a meeting of the House of Commons heritage committee on Tuesday, when she defended the organization — was filling in as interim chair of the board after former chair Michael Brind’amour stepped down in August.
Where does Hockey Canada get its funding from?
Until recently, Hockey Canada received funding from the federal government; through membership fees and provincial grants; and from grassroots fundraising and sponsorships.
Much of that is now up in the air, with major sponsors such as Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire and Nike cutting ties with Hockey Canada.
In June, federal Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge froze Hockey Canada’s funding from the federal government. The organization received a total of $14 million from Ottawa in 2020 and 2021.
But at the grassroots level, people have bake sales and bottle drives to fund amateur sport in Canada. “Hockey, on the ground floor, it’s volunteers,” Robinson said.
“That’s something Hockey Canada really has to address, in my mind: Have they taken advantage of these volunteers?”
World champion Ilia Malinin won Skate America on Sunday for the third consecutive year, altering his free skate on the fly after an early mistake and punctuating the program with a backflip that had been banned in competition until this season.
The two-time and reigning U.S. champion scored 290.12 points to finish ahead of Kevin Aymoz of France, whose career-best free skate left him with 282.88 points and earned a standing ovation inside Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.
Kao Miura of Japan, who was second after his short program, finished third with 278.67 points.
“It was a pretty challenging moment for me, just stepping on the ice. I felt way more nervous than usual,” said Malinin, the early favorite for gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. “That may have played a part in the whole program.”
Vancouver’s Wesley Chiu placed ninth in the free skate with a score of 140.08 points, he finished ninth overall with a total of 206.94 points.
The ice dance competition was to be decided later Sunday in the final event of the season-opening Grand Prix. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Britain had the lead over American world champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates after the rhythm dance.
Malinin and Miura were separated by a mere 0.15 points after their short programs, but it was Aymoz who challenged Malinin for the top of the podium. The 27-year-old from France, who struggled mightily at the end of last season, landed a pair of quads in an error-free program to score 190.84 points — the best of all the free skates — and vault into first place.
Nika Egadze of Georgia was next on the ice but fell on his opening quad lutz and stepped out on his quad salchow, and those two mistakes kept him from medal contention. He wound up fourth with 261.71 points.
Miura, the 19-year-old former world junior champion, landed three quads during a program set to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” the 1964 musical romantic drama film. But Miura lost points for an under-rotated triple axel and on a step sequence that led into a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination midway through his free skate.
Malinin was last to take the ice, performing a program set to “I’m Not a Vampire” by the rock band Falling In Reverse.
He opened with a perfect quad flip and then hit a triple axel, even though Malinin remains the only skater to have landed the quad version of the jump in competition. Then came the mistake, when he doubled a planned quad loop, leaving Malinin to make changes on the fly over the second half of the program in an attempt to make up the lost points.
After putting his hand down on his triple lutz, Malinin landed a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination before a quad salchow-triple axel in sequence — a pair of huge jumping passes that sent his technical score soaring.
Malinin capped the recovery of his program with a backflip during his choreographed sequence, a move that had been banned until this season because of its inherent danger. It was expected all along but nonetheless sent a roar through the crowd, just as Malinin’s program came to an end and a steady stream of stuffed animals were thrown onto the ice.
“It was really hard for me in the middle of the program to think what I have to do — what I need to do,” Malinin said when asked about the early mistake. “I just went full autopilot through there and I’m glad I made it out.”
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Charles Leclerc earned Ferrari its first United States Grand Prix victory since 2018 with a clever start and a commanding drive Sunday, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen strengthened his lead in the F1 season championship by finishing third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen earned the podium only after Norris was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track to pass Verstappen in the final laps.
Verstappen immediately complained about the move, while Norris insisted Verstappen also left the track. Norris’ pass came after the two drivers had battled for the final podium spot and critical championship points over several laps and Verstappen had stubbornly refused to give ground.
The penalty and fourth place finish cost Norris valuable points in the title chase. Verstappen stretched his championship lead over Norris from 54 points to 57 with five grand prix and two sprint races left.
Leclerc earned his third win of the season and Ferrari pulled a 1-2 finish with his teammate Carlos Sainz in second. Kimi Raikkonen had been the last Ferrari winner at the Circuit of the Americas in 2018.
But the bigger battle was raging behind them as Verstappen and Norris fought over every inch of the final dozen laps.
Verstappen has not won a grand prix since June and Norris has steadily chipped away at his lead as the Red Bull car has faded. Yet Verstappen still stretched his lead by five points over the weekend by also winning Saturday’s sprint race.
Norris will leave Austin knowing he squandered a big chance to gain ground. He had even earned pole position for Sunday’s race.
Verstappen started right beside him, and it was their battle into the first turn that saw both cars run wide, leaving room for Leclerc to pounce on the opening.
The Ferrari driver jumped from fourth and straight into the lead.
Norris complained Verstappen forced him off the track at the start to begin a battle that would be fought over the entire race.
