Evidence of meeting #38 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was players.
A video is available from Parliament.
Chair, Hockey Canada Foundation, Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada management does not report to the Hockey Canada Foundation. We have no involvement in their governance, none.
Conservative
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
Do you think there should be a governance change considering what happened that night, June 18, 2018?
Chair, Hockey Canada Foundation, Hockey Canada
No, Madam Chair, I do not. The Hockey Canada senior management team and staff report to the Hockey Canada board, not to the Hockey Canada Foundation.
Conservative
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
Does it concern any of you in front of me today that these alleged so-called rapists have ongoing careers in amateur and professional hockey today, and some day could be coaching? What is your comment on this? I'm going back to the Graham James situation, which you know about, in Saskatchewan. Today, does it not resonate with you that these eight could be coaching five years down the road or whenever?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
If I could, to you, to the members of the committee and to all Canadians, Mr. Renney made reference to the fact that we're on a journey and we are driven to drive changes in behaviours in this game, to achieve the culture that you and I and everyone in this room and everyone in this country desires.
We have 650,000 registered participants in this country, registered players. Unfortunately, we're a microcosm of society. We're a microcosm of this country, and we're going to drive our efforts to the extent that we can to make sure that we build the culture and improve the culture. We believe we've made changes in the last four years and will continue to make changes in the next four years and beyond, to make sure that every Canadian knows that this game is a safe place for their daughter or son.
Conservative
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
This incident from June 2018 will be talked about in many homes in this country: Should I sign up my daughter or my son into Hockey Canada programs? I'm not sure of the answer here today. I haven't really gotten from any of your reassurances that Hockey Canada has changed in its harassment, bullying and abuse policies.
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
If we're asked what we are doing, what we have done since and what we are going to do on a go-forward basis, we can reassure Canadians that hockey is a safe place. We're not perfect, but we're doing everything we can to make sure that hockey is a safe place for young Canadians.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you, Mr. Waugh.
I will now go to Anthony Housefather for the Liberals.
You have five minutes, please, Anthony.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
Gentlemen, I assume you're all aware of the Jenner & Block report on the Brad Aldrich affair at the Chicago Blackhawks. Is that correct?
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
In that case, the Blackhawks chose transparency. They made the report completely available. I'm wondering if you would reconsider the issue of the report you received from Henein Hutchison, to allow the public, at least, to understand. If there need to be redactions related to attorney-client privilege, and certainly anything that would necessarily reveal the alleged victim, that's understandable.
Would you consider providing to this committee a redacted version of that report?
Chief Executive Officer, Hockey Canada
Madam Chair, thank you.
I would tell you that an incomplete report is just that, and I don't know that it suffices, because beyond that it's speculation. I don't think any of us in this room want to work beyond speculation.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
That's a very fair point, Mr. Renney. Let me come back to the path you're on. I heard very well that you're on a path, and I appreciate the path. It's great to have a forward-looking path that improves the organization's harassment and bullying policies going forward. I'm going to have some questions about that, but I think people are probably—I guess I am, just as an ordinary guy here—at a bit of a loss as to how that path doesn't include trying to get to the bottom of which eight players were involved in this incident. A very limited number of players could have been involved on this team at that event. Numerous other people could testify as to who might have gone into that hotel room.
Are there any plans at this point at Hockey Canada or any of the member organizations to delve further into this matter to, for example, create rules requiring all the players who were at the event to speak to investigators to try to get to the bottom of who these players are? As Mr. Waugh said, it is of concern that you may have perpetrators of a very serious alleged incident, who were never even identified, either playing in the league or coaching.
The fact that they haven't been identified sort of shocks me. Please speak to that.
Chief Executive Officer, Hockey Canada
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would tell you that we seem to have forgotten about one individual in our conversation at this point in time, and that's the young woman. By her request, we have not, obviously, identified her, because she wishes not to be, and she also wishes not to identify any of the players.
With that being said, your questions are good ones. Don't get me wrong: I believe they're good and I think they're solid. They give us room to think. We are here to learn. We are here to understand what your constituents are looking for with respect to responses and guidance and a path forward that keeps everyone safe, healthy and enjoying sport, never mind just hockey. I certainly understand that.
I can tell you that what we've done since 2018 is recognize the value of a robust interrogation, if you will, of coaches who might in fact be interested in any of our high-performance programs. Those are programs from an under-16 level all the way up to and including under 20, and on the women's side, the women's national team. We are working hard to try to do the right thing here, recognizing that your feedback is important and recognizing that what you've addressed with us is really quite significant. We will contemplate that and integrate those thoughts, should they become necessary and relevant to us, which they are today, into what we need to do moving forward.
As Mr. Smith has identified, we are on a journey here. We take full responsibility for where we are today, and we wish to take full responsibility for where we go tomorrow. We owe that, and have an obligation to every Canadian to do as much.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
I really appreciate that.
I appreciate your incredible sensitivity to the wishes of the alleged victim here. I think what I would say, though, is that of course her wishes have to be respected, certainly, with respect to her own identity. Often, though, you will have victims, and then the same people will do the same thing to somebody else. By not trying to identify the gentlemen allegedly involved here, we may have other women who are potentially attacked in the future. I don't think it's enough to simply rely on the desire of the victim not to disclose the identity of the potential perpetrators. I would ask you to think about that.
I want to come back to Mr. Julian's question. Has Hockey Canada received other allegations of sexual misconduct by players in the last, say, 10 years?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Again, those details are beyond the scope of what we were expecting for today. I did have an opportunity to speak to our staff who are responsible for that. Mr. Renney made reference to the fact that we've recently hired a director responsible for safe sport. She is new to the role and just getting up to speed.
My understanding is that we've had one to two cases on an annual basis over the last five to six years. I apologize, but I can't give you more detail than that.
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Can I close off? I would tell you that one in the last five to six years—not one to two each year—is too many. That's why we're driven to change the culture in this game, as Mr. Renney made reference to.
Liberal
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I was going to ask if they'd entered into any other settlement agreements. Can you confirm that you haven't entered into any other settlement agreements?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Going back to the Graham James situation, as Mr. Waugh said earlier, I believe there were settlement agreements over the years related to those incidents.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much.
I'll go to Ms. Larouche from the Bloc Québécois for two and a half minutes, please.
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Gentlemen, thank you very much for being with us today.
First, I would like to say that I'm the critic for status of women and that I've replaced colleagues on many other committees, including the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security and the Standing Committee on National Defence.
Mr. Renney, you said in your opening remarks that there had been assault cases as there are elsewhere in society.
Don't such remarks contribute to a form of trivialization of assault cases?
Doesn't that have the effect of discouraging certain victims from reporting that form of trivialization?