Hockey Canada stuns MPs by telling Parliament organization is the victim of ‘cynical attacks’

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OTTAWA — The chief executive of Hockey Canada, an organization that has paid out nearly $9 million to 21 sexual misconduct complainants since 1989, says the organization has an “excellent reputation” and should not be seen as “at the heart of a toxic culture.” be made a scapegoat. ”

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The current interim chair of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors, Andrea Skinner, and former chair, Michael Brind’Amour, were grilled for two hours by deputies from the Federal Heritage Committee about how the organization has dealt with multiple allegations of sexual assault against its member players for decades or trainer has handled.

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In testimony before the committee earlier this summer, Hockey Canada’s chief financial officer, Brian Cairo, said the organization had paid nearly $9 million to 21 sex abuse complainants over the past 33 years. Most were linked to comparisons in the case of former junior hockey coach Graham James.

Monday’s meeting began with Conservative MP John Nater reading excerpts from previously unreleased Hockey Canada board meeting minutes, which showed the organization intended to “tighten the narrative” around the scandal in the days following Kairos and President Scott Smith’s testimony “move”.

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“Severance payments are a positive, not a negative. Repetition required to set out the narrative,” Nater read from the transcript.

He then told the committee that he finds it “deeply disturbing that the organization is more concerned with shifting narrative than actually making meaningful changes within this organization.”

Hockey Canada came under intense scrutiny after TSN reported in the spring that a woman had filed a $3.55 million lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted by several members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Team .

That lawsuit was settled a few weeks later by a Hockey Canada fund built out of player registration fees called the National Equity Fund, The Globe and Mail reported this summer. The settlement also ended an organization’s investigation into the incident before it was completed.

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Skinner began her testimony to lawmakers by acknowledging that while there is “undoubtedly” a “toxic culture” and a “culture of silence” at Hockey Canada, it also exists in many other areas of society, including education, business, politics and religion institutions exist.

She argued it was “counterproductive” to say it was a “specific hockey problem” or to “scapegoat hockey as the centerpiece of a toxic culture.”

She also said Hockey Canada acted “responsibly and respectfully” toward the lawsuit victim by settling the case, sparing her “the cruelty and invasiveness of an adversarial trial involving cross-examination and tough defense tactics.”

She also said that the board disagreed that there needed to be changes in senior leadership, namely President Scott Smith, because it was “in the best interests” of the organization and its participants that leadership “remain stable.”

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In fact, she told lawmakers that “under the circumstances,” Smith deserved an “A” for his conduct on the record. Former chairman Brind’Amour, who resigned earlier this summer, also said he believes Smith is right for the job.

Her comments came in response to calls by several MPs, including German Sport Minister Pascale Ste-Onge, on Monday for some senior executives to resign.

“It shows that sexual violence at Hockey Canada was treated as an insurance issue and not as a systemic issue that needs to be addressed at the root of the problem,” Ste-Onge told reporters, adding she expects resignations.

Skinner has repeatedly accused the media of inaccurately reporting Hockey Canada, saying it has been the victim of “substantial misinformation and overly cynical attacks.”

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On Monday, The Globe and Mail reported that Hockey Canada had set up a second, previously undisclosed, multimillion-dollar fund called the Participants Legacy Trust Fund, which the court said would be used “for matters including, but not limited to, sexual abuse.” Organization documents.

Skinner said the fund was misrepresented by the media and denied that it belonged to Hockey Canada and was used to cover sexual assault claims.

Skinner’s testimony was apparently heartbreaking for MPs, who said they had lost confidence in Hockey Canada, that the organization was “Trump-like” in its attacks on the media and that it “encourages” a culture of silence towards victims of sexual assault . .

At the end of the combative meeting, MPs from each party took turns berating Skinner and Hockey Canada.

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“There is a clear disconnect between the Hockey Canada leadership’s perspective on the leadership of Hockey Canada and the perspective of this all-party committee and the Canadian public on the leadership of Hockey Canada,” Liberal MP Anthony Housefather told Skinner. “I don’t think you’re going to win back Canadians’ favor … until you look at your leader and cut that leader out.”

Bloc Québécois Sébastien Lemire said Hockey Canada “lives in a bubble” and is “disconnected” from public opinion.

“You convince yourself that you did the right thing,” Lemire said. “They help perpetuate the toxic culture.”

NDP MP Peter Julian agreed with Lemire’s point of view and criticized the organization for its lack of accommodation throughout the scandal.

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“I have been deeply disappointed by Hockey Canada’s lack of transparency now at three hearings since June,” he said. “I think Hockey Canada can do a lot better.”

Committee chair Hedy Fry took the floor for a few minutes at the end of the meeting to say she was “concerned and disturbed” by what she heard from Hockey Canada on Tuesday.

“There doesn’t seem to be a sense of responsibility among the Witnesses to be rational and reasonable,” Fry said. “I’m really quite dismayed to hear that everyone believes that the current leadership that has been at the helm since all this should be maintained because this is a quality team.”

“Blaming everyone else doesn’t mean you feel responsible.”