Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for inviting Hockey Canada to appear today.
My name is Tom Renney, and I am Hockey Canada's chief executive officer. I'm joined today by Scott Smith, Hockey Canada's president and chief operating officer, and David Andrews, chair of the board of directors of the Hockey Canada Foundation.
Our former colleague, Glen McCurdie, who retired as senior vice-president of insurance and risk management in December, is not here today due to the recent passing of his father. We appreciate the committee's compassion in not compelling his attendance today.
We welcome the opportunity to respond to the members' questions regarding the allegations involving members of the 2017-18 national junior hockey team and the recent settlement Hockey Canada reached with the plaintiff in that matter. Before we do that, I want to make one thing clear: Hockey Canada is on a journey to change the culture of our sport and to make it safer and more inclusive. We acknowledge that issues of maltreatment, including bullying, harassment, racism, homophobia and sexual abuse, exist in hockey as they do in other sports and in our society. We have been working on this since well before the London incident, but we recognize that as leaders we need to do more, and we are committed to doing just that.
Before we get to your questions, I would like to provide some context for the discussion. Given that some of the public commentary on this very serious issue has been speculative, I would like to ensure that we are starting with a common set of facts. Hockey Canada is aware of reports suggesting that we failed to investigate this incident, attempted to cover it up and generally swept this matter under the rug. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Hockey Canada learned of this incident the day after it was alleged to have taken place. We immediately initiated a process to investigate, beginning by contacting police. We commissioned an independent investigation and appointed an independent adjudication panel of judges to review the findings of that investigation. We also notified Sport Canada, as is our obligation as a federally funded national sport organization.
Our organization, leadership and staff have co-operated fully with law enforcement and the investigator throughout their processes, providing access to all information requested. We cannot speak to the investigation undertaken by the London police. For our part, the independent investigation we commissioned could not ultimately be completed, because the young woman chose not to speak to the investigator. That was her right, and we respected her wishes, just as we continue to respect her clear and repeated wishes not to identify her or the players involved. While we understand the public's frustration that the players involved have never been identified or disciplined, the young woman has agency in this matter, and we encourage everyone to give appropriate consideration and deference to her fundamental desire for privacy above all else.
With regard to the legal action that was filed in April of this year, we settled the claim quickly because we felt a moral obligation to respond to the alleged behaviour that occurred at one of our events by players who attended at our invitation. While we don't know exactly what occurred that night or the identities of those involved, we recognize that the conduct was unacceptable and incompatible with Hockey Canada's values and expectations, and that it clearly caused harm. We felt that the right response to the woman's legal request was one that did not require her to participate in a prolonged court proceeding. The settlement enables her to seek whatever support she might require as she tries to move past this incident.
Although the investigation could not come to a conclusion regarding the role that any player may have played in the incident, the investigator provided advice on areas for improvement, which we have been implementing and will continue to pursue in the line of our work to improve the culture of our sport. This work includes enhancing our code of conduct and improving our education programs. We are happy to discuss these efforts in more detail today.
As I said at the outset, pushing this behavioural change is a priority for our organization.
