Canadian Heritage Committee on June 20th, 2022

[Scott Smith]

Could you repeat that question, please?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

There's a very limited number of players who potentially could have been involved in this case. I understand the need to protect the identity of the victim—you obviously wanted to do that and to respect her wishes. Did Hockey Canada take any proactive steps other than the investigation by Henein Hutchison, in which you advised the players it was up to them whether they wanted to co-operate to figure out which players may have been involved in this incident and to get their stories?

[Scott Smith]

We turned that over to our third party investigator. We strongly encouraged all players to participate in that investigation.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Did various committees of the board of directors become aware of the case, and did the board and various committees approve the settlement?

[Scott Smith]

I don't think it would be various committees. The board of directors was updated on a regular basis from 2018 through until sometime in 2020.

We had a discussion with our current board of directors, because we have had some changes, in the middle of May. They endorsed management proceeding with the settlement, on the advice of counsel.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you.

Were the funds that were paid to the alleged victim paid through insurance proceeds? Did insurance take over the defence of the claim and settle through insurance, or did Hockey Canada pay from Hockey Canada funds?

[Scott Smith]

For clarity, we've been asked that question. We look forward to an audit confirming this for you and for all Canadians. We liquidated a portion of our investments to pay for the settlement. That is kept in a separate account apart from our government funding, our business development and sponsorship funding, our ticket revenues, our merchandising, etc.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you very much. I think that's probably my time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes, Anthony, that's your time.

Now I go to the Bloc Québécois and Mr. Lemire.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the officials from Hockey Canada for being with us today.

I think it's very important that you've come to testify on this matter, which has personally shocked me, many hockey fans and many Canadians. That's why I introduced a motion in the House of Commons to have you come and answer our questions.

First, I'd like to know why Hockey Canada is the only signatory to the out-of-court settlement.

[Scott Smith]

The incident in 2018 occurred at an event under Hockey Canada's responsibility. It was our year-end celebration of the Hockey Canada Foundation to recognize gold medal teams and the Order of Hockey in Canada recipients. This was a Hockey Canada Foundation event, but the operation of that is by Hockey Canada. It was under our responsibility. We took responsibility because it happened at an event under our control.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Chair, out of a concern for fairness for anglophones and francophones, I would ask you to adjust my speaking time to compensate for the delay caused by the interpretation.

Gentlemen, you also took down the photographs from Facebook after the incident was made public.

Was that a coincidence or was removing photographs part of the crisis management related to the incident?

[Tom Renney]

Thank you.

I can't tell you that anyone was instructed to take those photos off of Facebook.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Renney, you resigned as president and CEO when the suit was filed.

Was there a connection between the two events?

[Tom Renney]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

No, actually, there is not. I had informed the current chair of the board of Hockey Canada on April 3, 2021, that, with much appreciation, I had chosen not to extend my contract. I am still the CEO of Hockey Canada until June 30, so anything that might suggest that was contrived—and I'm not suggesting you're using those terms— is really coincidental. There was no prefabrication here whatsoever. It's a function of my doing what I needed to do over a year ago.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

You said in your opening statement that you had to settle the claim quickly because you felt a moral obligation to do so. You said you didn't know exactly what had occurred or who was involved.

However, you also said you had contacted the teams that were involved.

Doesn't that seem somewhat contradictory?

[Tom Renney]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

No, because we contacted all players and every team. We had no idea of knowing where to focus our energy at all, and it would have been wrong nonetheless, so we contacted every player and all the teams.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

You mentioned that an investigation was still under way.

Is that in fact the case?

Who's conducting that investigation and how's it being conducted?

[Tom Renney]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I believe I heard you ask if the investigation is still under way and who is conducting that investigation. Is that correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes, you did hear that.

[Tom Renney]

Thank you. I'm sorry about that.

The investigations right now have been suspended. The investigating team has chosen to close its books on this. There is no investigation at this point in time, and that also helped us understand what would be in the best interests of the young woman and deal with this accordingly.

[Scott Smith]

If I may, Madam Chair....

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Yes, you still have time.

[Scott Smith]

Thank you.

Should we be in a position where the young woman were to change her mind, we would welcome the opportunity for her counsel to speak to our counsel. We would revert back to the process that we identified in the summer of 2018. We would refer her to our third party investigation group and, provided that there was an outcome or finalization of that investigation, any actions that would be taken would be handled by a three-person disciplinary panel, not managed by Hockey Canada.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Out of a concern for transparency, I would ask you please to provide the committee with the report that you asked the Henein Hutchison firm to prepare.

Did you submit it to the police too?

What were its findings?