Most Canadians angered by use of Hockey Canada fees in sexual assault settlements: Nanos poll

Most Canadians fret over the revelations Hockey Canada has been entertaining for uninsured payments, including but not limited to sexual assault complaints, according to a new survey by Nanos Research.

The poll, commissioned by CTV News and The Globe and Mail, shows 73 percent of Canadians are upset about the situation, with 14 percent disinterested, about two percent satisfied and 11 percent unsure.

Women were more likely to say they felt anger at 81 percent than men at 65 percent.

The sentiments come after it was revealed in May that Hockey Canada reached a settlement with a woman who claimed several members of Canada’s World Canada junior ice hockey team sexually assaulted her in London, Ontario in 2018.

In June, the federal government froze its funding of Hockey Canada, and major sponsors such as Scotiabank and Telus also stopped funding.

Since then, another allegation of sexual assault in groups involving members of Canada’s junior ice hockey team has surfaced in 2003.

On Thursday, Hockey Canada announced that a former Supreme Court Justice would conduct an independent review of the organization’s leadership.

Hockey Canada, meanwhile, has said it would no longer use its National Equity Fund, the reserve funded by registration fees, to settle sexual assault claims.

The Nanos poll shows that most Canadians (71 percent) or somewhat disagree (13 percent) with Hockey Canada using a portion of hockey registration fees to pay out alleged sexual assault settlements. Four percent support this, while five percent tend to support it.

In the face of Hockey Canada’s allegations, Nanos says most Canadians now have a negative view of the sport in general.

Forty-one percent of Nanos respondents say allegations of sexual assault against members of the world junior team had a negative impact on their impression of hockey, while 24 percent say the allegations had a somewhat negative impact.

Fifty-eight percent say they currently have no confidence in Hockey Canada’s leadership, and 59 percent said they view sexual misconduct as a potential cultural issue in player development leagues that feed the National Hockey League.

According to Nanos, 47 percent say sexual misconduct is a potential cultural issue in the NHL.

At the recreational level, 32 percent of Canadians surveyed said they view sexual misconduct as a potential cultural issue, while 28 percent said it didn’t.

According to the survey, women are more likely to see sexual misconduct as a problem than men.

63 percent of Canadians view sexual assault in hockey as part of a larger cultural issue, compared to 26 percent who say it affects a handful of players. Twelve percent were unsure.

As for whether parents would allow their children to play hockey, 55 percent said Hockey Canada’s allegations had no impact, according to Nanos.

According to the survey, 49 percent of women with children say they let their children play hockey less often than about 31 percent of men.

METHODOLOGY

Nanos conducted an RDD dual-frame hybrid phone and online random survey of 1,038 Canadians 18 years and older between July 29 and August 2, 2022 as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited over the phone with live agents and an online survey was conducted. The sample included both land and cell lines across Canada. Results were statistically verified using the most recent census information and weighted by age and sex, and the sample is stratified geographically to be representative of Canada. Randomly called people with random digit dialing with a maximum of five callbacks.

The margin of error for this survey is 3.1 percentage points, 19 out of 20. This study was commissioned by CTV News and Globe and Mail and the research was conducted by Nanos Research.

With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press