Canadian Heritage Committee on June 20th, 2022

[Scott Smith]

I believe I said that our approach, to avoid any perception that we would be managing that, is that we would appoint a third party adjudication panel to handle that on our behalf. We believe that's the best practice.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you.

Do players involved in all of Hockey Canada programming receive anti-harassment training or any training along those lines?

[Scott Smith]

We've had a relationship with the Respect Group and the respect in sport program, dating back to sometime in the early 2000s, targeted at activity leaders. I think the sexual assault training has been in place for the better part of four to five years.

I apologize that I can't give you the specifics on that, but it is there, and it's focused on activity leaders. Parents take the respect in sport program. It's not necessarily specific to all players at the under-12 or under-10 levels, but it is focused on activity leaders to make sure we manage—

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Could you define “activity leaders” for the committee?

[Scott Smith]

That's coaches, officials and trainers.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Just to reiterate, do the athletes involved in your programming receive any mandatory anti-harassment training?

[Scott Smith]

The training is at our national team level but not necessarily at the community level for the younger ages.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

When a member joins Hockey Canada as a national team member, do they receive mandatory anti-harassment training?

[Scott Smith]

It's part of our education initiatives in our program of excellence. It's education that we're evaluating the effectiveness of and also the content to make sure of its appropriateness. We will be making improvements in that area going forward.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Every athlete belongs to a home club in most sports. I belonged to a home club and I competed for Canada. I never felt “borrowed” by national teams. I felt that I qualified for national teams, that it was something that I should feel proud of, and that the country was proud to have a national team competing at a high level.

Our national team still confronts challenges around underage drinking and other things like that. Do you think underage drinking was present, or is present, at Hockey Canada or gala events?

[Scott Smith]

In 2018, yes, there was, and we take full responsibility for that. We took corrective measures at our 2019 year-end celebration, as well as what's planned for the 2022 event.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Thank you.

I'd like to come back to the fact that Hockey Canada has made no attempt to identify the alleged perpetrators of this alleged assault. I'm struggling to understand how one could have a zero tolerance policy that is not implemented against people who are accused, who then cost the organization considerable time, resources and money, and no effort is made to ensure that those athletes are held accountable.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

There are 30 seconds left for your answer.

[Scott Smith]

I think it's important to note that we took extensive effort. We appointed a third party law firm to conduct an investigation. We notified the London Police Service and we notified Sport Canada. Our third party investigator and the London Police Service were not able to confirm. I don't think to characterize Hockey Canada as having made no effort is appropriate.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

I would like it to be known that I didn't suggest that you made no effort. I've acknowledged the fact that you haven't swept this under the rug and you've done some good work.

Thank you. I'll be back with some more questions momentarily.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Adam.

Now we go to the fourth round. I have no idea who the Conservative questioner is going to be.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's John Nater.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right, John. Go ahead for five minutes.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I've been concerned by some of the comments I've been hearing today. I say that honestly as a parliamentarian, as a parent and as a parent with kids in hockey, ringette and organized sport. I come back to the phrase “accountability versus responsibility”.

I acknowledge that Hockey Canada has tried to take responsibility for this incident, but I'm quite concerned that you're not taking accountability for this situation. I've heard comments about education, about improving education around the code of conduct, but my God, sexual assault is wrong, and it's always been wrong, and there ought not to have been a need for education that sexual assault is wrong. I say that as a comment because I find it troubling. I find it troubling that in the past four years no one has been held accountable.

I recognize that some changes have been made, and I think that's important, but I recognize that no one has been held accountable. No one lost the privilege of wearing the maple leaf on their jersey. No one was disciplined by the organization. No one lost their employment at the organization. No one was truly held accountable by the organization. I recognize that no one wants to reveal the identity of the victim, but individuals who wore the maple leaf—individuals who were on the national team—were alleged to have participated in very serious sexual assaults. We know that the NHL is now conducting its investigation, and I think it will be a black mark on the organization of Hockey Canada if the NHL holds individuals accountable and Hockey Canada fails to do so.

I'm going to share my time with Mr. Waugh afterwards, and I'm going to give you an opportunity to make a comment in just a second.

I've heard “zero tolerance” mentioned today. I wish that were true, but if there were truly a zero tolerance situation, there should have been more than six or eight players or 10 players who participated in that third party review. Every single player who was in London that weekend should have been mandated to participate in that review or lose the opportunity and the privilege of being associated with Hockey Canada. The club organization could be its own situation, but Hockey Canada should have said, “Those who do not participate in this third party review are no longer affiliated with this organization.” That could have been one way that Hockey Canada could have taken accountability four years ago, but that didn't happen, and now, four years later, we're only just finding out about what happened four years ago.

I'll give you an opportunity to comment on that. Then Mr. Waugh has a question.

Thank you.

[Scott Smith]

First of all, I think everyone at this end of the table shares your concerns for what was alleged to have happened that evening. That is not something that we would ever want in any activity, in any sport or anywhere in this country. If you're feeling that we don't share that view, I apologize, and I want every Canadian to know that we take this seriously, and we've said it from day one.

We undertook an extensive process. Neither the London Police Service nor our third party investigator was able to confirm what happened that evening, and that was not from lack of effort. Our investigation took place over a 26-month period. On the advice of our third party investigator, we were not able to impose sanctions. They advised us that we lacked due process for them.

It's not something that we take lightly, and I've said multiple times that if further information were to come forward, we would re-engage the investigative process and we would handle the investigation and any potential discipline exactly the way we intended it to be handled in the summer of 2018. We take responsibility. We hold ourselves accountable for this.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

I have a question.

On the waiver claim, going forward, can players now sign a waiver claim for third party investigation? Is that something Hockey Canada would do immediately—say that every player must sign this waiver claim?

[Scott Smith]

I'm confused. The waiver would mean they would waive the right to participate in an investigation—

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

No, it's to—

[Scott Smith]

I think I mentioned earlier that we're going to be in the process of discussing with our hockey partners about an ability for us in the code of conduct to be able to compel participation and investigation.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Okay.