Canadian Heritage Committee on June 20th, 2022

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you. I have only a few seconds, so I just want to say thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 59 seconds, Tim. You have a bit of time.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Fifty-nine seconds, I can do that.

Maybe you could expand on your mandate letter. It is specifically addressing maltreatment in sport. If you had less than a minute to explain what's in the mandate letter....

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

One very important step was the establishment of an independent organization, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. I'm going to make sure that all sports organizations are required to comply with the new mechanism. By this I mean a safe place where athletes can submit their complaints so that they are dealt with independently and transparently. It will be compulsory for all sports organizations. In the last budget, we provided $16 million to ensure that the office had the resources required to take rapid action to deal with any issues.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Tim. I think you're out of time.

I'm going to go to Sébastien Lemire for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, as you know, in April 2021, my Bloc Québécois colleague, Denis Trudel, the member for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, put forward a motion requesting that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study pertaining to the establishment of an independent agency to deal with complaints in sports. The motion was adopted unanimously.

In January 2022, my colleague Martin Champoux and I wrote in response to theGlobe and Mail article to support the establishment of this agency. You created it, and I wanted to congratulate you and thank you for your interest in making sports safer for athletes. In the current incident being dealt with, the athletes are not the victims, but rather the assailants.

I'd like to hear what you think about the testimony we heard a little earlier from Hockey Canada management.

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

First and foremost, I would like to point out that allegations of gang rape are among those situations that need to be dealt with by the traditional courts, and always will be. It falls under the Criminal Code.

In situations like these, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner Could investigate Hockey Canada's corporate culture, make recommendations, and even suggest sanctions. However, with respect to the allegations themselves, they really have to be dealt with by the traditional courts responsible for doing so.

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

Government funding represents only a tiny part of Hockey Canada's budget, because it receives money from all its sponsors and has other television revenues.

What would force Hockey Canada to follow your recommendations?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Hockey Canada is one of Canada's most powerful sports organizations. It has broad support from the public, and from the registration fees paid on behalf of young players who want to play hockey, and from sponsors.

Like any other socially responsible undertaking, Hockey Canada has to be accountable to the people of Canada. It's true that public funding may not be the largest source of Hockey Canada's revenue, but that doesn't mean its leaders are not accountable for the role they play, their actions, and their decisions.

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

Hockey Canada's management mentioned that they had established a code of conduct. I'd like to hear what you think about this code of conduct.

Do you think they are accountable to elected representatives for the outcomes of this code of conduct, particularly in connection with today's appearance?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I'm very happy about the fact that the committee called upon and questioned Hockey Canada's management to hold them to account for their actions before the committee today.

It's clear that the Hockey Canada code of conduct needs to be improved. The firm conducting the financial audit will be making recommendations, because it will also look into some of the provisions in the funding agreement. These provisions include matters of safety, and the prevention of assault and abuse in the sport.

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

My understanding was that, under your authority or the authority of your predecessors, Ms. Mulligan was to report on the information she received on January 26, 2018.

You also said that you had never before been informed of the fact that obscene incidents had occurred at events organized under the aegis of Hockey Canada. Your policy advisor, Mr. Raphael Yacobi-Harris, met Hockey Canada representatives on two occasions, on November 30, 2020 and January 26, 2021.

What was the purpose of the meeting, and did Hockey Canada tell you about the obscene incidents that occurred at the time or at any other time?

Could you also send the committee all communications via email or text message between your office and Hockey Canada since June 8, 2018? That would of course include those from Mr. Yacobi-Harris or any other member of your office.

Could you provide us with all communications from the day you were informed to the present, as well as the briefing notes that your office prepared?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

There are several parts to your question.

For the meetings held in 2020 and 2021, it was the office of my predecessor. I don't have any information about it.

As I said earlier, I was informed by Hockey Canada two days before the article appeared in the media. Otherwise, a mandatory statement was made by Hockey Canada on June 26, 2018. I was informed a few days after the article was published that this statement had been made.

As for the documents, we'll see to collaborating with the committee.

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

You mentioned that you had been expecting Hockey Canada to behave like a responsible citizens' organization and that it would introduce a zero-tolerance culture.

In recent years, Russia lost its right to fly its flag at sporting events because of a doping scandal. The Olympic Games launched the idea of sanctioning Russia and Belarus, among others, as a consequence of their actions in the war against Ukraine.

Do you think sanctions like these would be appropriate if parliamentarians deemed the Hockey Canada actions in this matter to have been unacceptable?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Once again, the government and all the sports organizations are essentially bound by the public funds paid to them in support of all their activities.

Of course, if the committee makes recommendations, we will study them very seriously, but we are also going to take action within our own purview.

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

You are no doubt aware of just how important logos are in the world of sports.

Do you think it's still legitimate for Hockey Canada to use the maple leaf logo?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I believe that the situation brought to our attention is absolutely distressing and horrible and that there have to be consequences.

Hockey Canada also has a women's hockey team. Its range of activities is much broader than the context of this event. We now have to clear things…

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Minister. I'm sorry. We've ended that round.

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

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'm going to Peter Julian for six minutes.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here today.

You said that you'd received a call from Mr. Renney about this horrible gang rape incident.

In the course of the conversation, did he mention any other complaints that Hockey Canada is now investigating?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

No. Our telephone conversation was very short. I was not informed of other incidents being looked into at Hockey Canada.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Okay.

I am asking you because Hockey Canada representatives revealed today that there are indeed two other complaints being investigated. Hockey Canada did not want to provide information about these two cases. It may be sexual assault or serious misconduct, but they have not confirmed anything.

Within your department, do you keep up‑to‑date files on all complaints received by every Sport Canada member sport association? Whenever there is a complaint, does it get to your Sport Canada office?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Since 2018, sports organizations funded by the Canadian government are required to report complaints they've received and are being dealt with.

I should also remind you that Sport Canada is neither a regulatory nor an investigative body. However, Sport Canada ensures that organizations have an independent system in place to investigate complaints received and to make sure that there are policies in place to prevent assaults and harassment within the various organizations.