The president of Hockey Canada says any members of the country’s 2018 world junior team who do not comply with an investigation into allegations of a group sexual assault that year will be banned from the organization.
“We’ve reopened the independent investigation into the alleged sexual assault in 2018. Any player who does not participate will be banned from all Hockey Canada activities and programs effective immediately,” Scott Smith told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on July 27.
Once completed, the investigation will be referred to an independent panel of judges for a full governance review of Hockey Canada’s management and to determine the appropriate consequences, said Smith, who took up the role of Hockey Canada’s president and CEO on July 1.
Smith said details about who will lead that review will be revealed in the coming days.
The probe comes after Hockey Canada reached a settlement with a woman in May after she filed a $3.55 million lawsuit against the sport’s national governing body a month earlier.
The lawsuit alleged that she was sexually assaulted by eight former Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players following a Hockey Canada Foundation event in London, Ont., in June 2018.
The identities of the victim and the players allegedly involved in the assault have not been made public. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Smith also noted that similar investigations will be conducted to investigate another sexual assault incident, allegedly involving members of Hockey Canada’s 2003 world junior championship team.
“Canadians have been clear: they expect those representing our national sport to do better. We recognize that many of the actions we are taking now should have been taken sooner and faster. We own it, and we will do better to deliver on your responsibilities to Canadians,” he said.
Investigation
Shortly after the alleged 2018 sexual assault, Hockey Canada reached out to Henein Hutchison LLP to investigate the incident. The task was given to Danielle Robitaille, a partner of the legal firm.
During the Canadian Heritage committee meeting on July 26, Robitaille said the third-party investigation managed to interview 10 of 19 of the 2018 world junior hockey team players who were at the London event.
The remaining nine said at the time that they will not participate in the probe until the London Police Service concludes its criminal investigation, she said.
But after police closed their investigation in February 2019 without laying charges, Robitaille said she was still unable to interview the players as the alleged victim said through her lawyer that she would not provide a statement of her version of what happened in June 2018.“I was not prepared to interview those players absent the complainant’s version of events,” Robitaille told the committee. “I could not interview players without giving them fair notice of what was alleged against them.”
Robitaille also noted that eight of the nine players who didn’t give an interview were concerned about being “pre-judged” as guilty by some politicians and Hockey Canada officials.
“They have expressed concerns about my investigation, particularly as it relates to comments made by politicians and members of Hockey Canada. They have a concern that the issue has been pre-judged,” she said.
“I am attempting to address those concerns and assuage those concerns, and I hope that I will receive voluntary compliance with my investigation.”
Both the federal Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have criticized Hockey Canada after the organization’s out-of-court settlement with the victim became public in May.
“Our level of trust in Hockey Canada is extremely low now,” St-Onge said at the committee meeting on July 26.
