Canadian Heritage Committee on July 27th, 2022

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

The question was on the incident that Mr. Cairo was talking about with regard to the individual from the Western Hockey League. Was that payment the result of a civil claim?

[Ron Robison]

It was a civil claim. That's correct.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 30 seconds.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Are you pursuing your insurance company for any of the claims for the monies paid out as a result of this claim in March of this year?

[Brian Cairo]

Yes. That is one avenue we intend to pursue.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

They were put on notice of the claim in 2018 when you first become aware of it, and they were notified when you received the claim in March of this year.

[Brian Cairo]

That's correct.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Okay.

Those are all of my questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

That brings us to the end of this session with Hockey Canada and—

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

Madam Chair, I have a proposal.

Since we still have seven minutes, I propose that each political party get one minute or one and a half minutes to ask more questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Do I have unanimous agreement from everyone in the meeting?

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

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

That would be four minutes, and I'm going to hold you to it. Is there any objection? Hearing none, we will give each political party one minute starting with the Conservatives.

You have a minute for a statement.

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

You know, hockey is Canada's game. It's been in everybody's backyard. This hits deeply. I stand by my earlier comments that, not only does Hockey Canada have to own this, but yesterday I called on Sport Canada, too.

We have to blow up Sport Canada as much as some around the table want to blow up Hockey Canada. It's a culture that, as we know in this country, has gone on too long. We've all agreed with that, but there's heavy lifting to go. There will be bumps, there will be celebrations, but, at the end, I think all of us need this. We need a cleansing in hockey. We need a cleansing in sport. We've all been involved for decades with it.

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

We all love every sport that we've been involved in.

On behalf of the Conservative Party, I will add thank you for coming here today. We don't have all the answers. Maybe we'll have another meeting in September, but going forward, the glass is half full; it's not half empty.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 16 seconds.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Now we go to the Liberals. Who will it be?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I think it's me, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Go ahead, Mr. Housefather.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

First of all, I appreciate everybody's coming.

Second of all, I have to say that I've been somewhat disappointed with the answers that we received today in some areas, although I note the progress that Hockey Canada has made in terms of promises, but I don't think they go in any way far enough.

The idea, for example, that you're not approving board minutes at the next board meeting, is not something I've ever heard of in my life in any organization I've been part of. The idea or your saying that you could still claim the insurance when you settled the claim without involving the insurer breaches every insurance contract I've ever heard of. The answers we received with respect to the settlement agreement and the answers with respect to all of Hockey Canada's past lead me to believe that, unfortunately, there needs to be—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 15 seconds.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

—a bigger cultural change in Hockey Canada than you're currently promising today. There are times when good people have to step aside because the public has lost confidence in them, and I'm afraid this might be one of those times.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Housefather.

I now go to the Bloc Québécois for one minute, please.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

All Canadians, Quebeckers, players, the public and parents of young players are watching us now and will be watching over the coming months.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Hockey Canada's reaction during the World Junior Championship, which Canada is hosting in Alberta. Will it ignore what happened or will it become part of its identity, its culture? I'm really looking forward to seeing that.

I'm also really looking forward to the fall, to see the reaction to the Carcillo suit and to all hazing cases or other incidents, because what happened is completely unacceptable. We know that other factors affect Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League. I sincerely hope that their leadership recognizes the problem and that the sport will become far safer.

To conclude, I hope that we have succeeded in restoring trust among victims who haven't yet come forward and that they know they no longer have to remain silent.