Hockey Canada: Ottawa maintains its surveillance as a financing condition

Adam Van Koeverden told CBC News that the organization had made progress in the questioning of its culture, but that there was still a lot to do.

It’s not just about checking boxeshe said during an interview.

We are talking about a major cultural change that requires transparency, responsibility and a lot of time.

This follow-up will continue to be provided by Sport Canada and his own office, he said.

The effect of the 2018 Canada Junior Square Affair

The federal government has suspended the financing of hockey canada (new window) In 2022 due to its management of a case that has caused a lot of ink to flow in recent years. A woman known as EM said that a group of play players Canada Junior of the 2018 edition had sexually assaulted her (new window) In a hotel room in London, Ontario. A judge recently declared non -guilty the five accused players (new window).

Three years ago, Hockey Canada was the subject of intense public surveillance for having discreetly paid compensation to EM From one end to the other of the country, the parents of hockey players were scandalized when they learned that their registration fees were paid into a reserve fund without their knowledge (new window) And used to pay millions of dollars in compensation for cases of sexual abuse.

To this end, a parliamentary committee conducted an investigation (new window)sponsors suspended their funding (new window) and the director of Hockey Canada and all of his board of directors have resigned (new window).

The federal government restored the financing of hockey canada in 2023 (new window)but under certain conditions. The organization had to submit quarterly reports to the federal government on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations made in three independent reports, including that of a former judge of the Supreme Court.

Hockey Canada told CBC News have implemented all the recommendations contained in these reports. Sport Canada said he was examining this progress and that in July, the Hockey Organization had implemented all the conditions provided in its reinforced surveillance plan.

Of the encouraging progressbut not sufficient

Despite everything, the Secretary of State for Sports said that no date had been set to end the additional surveillance exerted by Ottawa.

Adam Van Koeverden said he wanted to see the sustainable cultural change that Canadians demand.

We have noticed encouraging progress from Hockey Canada in terms of change of management, governance and audits.

Having himself a former athlete, the Secretary of State for Sports has praised the implementation of compulsory training on sexual violence and the consent that all the staff, coaches and athletes of the Canadian team must follow. He said this training is only the minimum And that it is necessary to change attitudes and behaviors.

According to Van Koeverden, the courage shown by EM and other people by denouncing the facts aroused a national debate on the changes to be made, not only in hockey, but within all sports.

Go further than cultivation of male hockey

In a statement made following the decision made last week, Adam Van Koeverden qualified the culture of male hockey as problematic.

Questioned by CBC News On the way he describes this culture and on the concerns he continues to have, Adam Van Koeverden replied that he did not think that the problems he had noted were endemic at male hockey.

I am concerned about chauvinism, sexism, treating women as objects or as something to conquer rather than as equal. […] I don’t think this is specific to hockey or sport in general.

I think it is an unhappy reality that exists elsewhere, in the world of work, in education … It must be denounced, recognize it and change it. According to him, if a national debate on The way we have to deal with each other starts with hockeyit must be A Canadian peculiarity.

Other cases of collective attacks

An investigation by the show The Fifth Estate (CBC) in 2022 revealed that junior hockey players had been the subject of police investigations in at least 15 cases of collective sexual assaults allegedly (new window) Since 1989, half of which have been revealed in the past decade. Former junior hockey players and specialists in this sport say that these incidents are the result of a culture that considers the seduction of women as a team sport that can lead to collective sex.

Laura Robinson, journalist and author of Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sportsaid that she wanted to see Hockey Canada being the subject of reinforced monitoring from the federal government until after the Winter Olympic Games in 2026 (new window).

She points to the recent hockey Canada announcements concerning the selection of 18 men in key positions. Hockey Canada has appointed a fully male team to train their Olympic teams (new window) and world juniors. The new managing director and members of the Hockey Canada Excellence Program Management Group are also men.

Hockey Canada assures that he will continue to improve

A few months ago, Hockey Canada announced that Chelsea Geldenhuys had been promoted to the position of Senior Director of Hockey Operations for the Excellence Program.

The program of excellence depends on volunteers from a pool of Canadian hockey league. The organization said that its managers and coaches selected to volunteer have a considerable experience with high -level male athletes aged 15 to 19.

Hockey Canada said that as part of its efforts in order to increase the number of women’s women in Canada, Chelsea Geldenhuys had contributed to the launch of a new program aimed at employing athlete students as a coach while allowing them to continue to play at the university level.

Hockey Canada also sent to CBC News A list of 17 changes that it has brought since 2022 to improve culture and security in hockey, in particular by establishing gender equality within its board of directors, by adopting a universal code of conduct to prevent abuses in sport and by becoming one of the first organizations to sign the agreement with the office of the Commissioner for Integrity in Sport, an entity ensuring the application of the universal conduct code to prevent and counter mistreatment in sport.

Although significant progress has been made since 2022, there is still a lot to do and we will continue to be transparent and to account for Canadians while we are carrying out a systemic change in our national winter sport.

Hockey Canada said she will continue to comply with all requests for sports reports Canada.

According to an article by Ashley Burke (CBC News)