Evidence of meeting #41 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was players.
A video is available from Parliament.
President, Canadian Hockey League
Absolutely. They're both on our website. I'd be happy to provide the link to the committee.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Great.
In the interest of time, I need to keep moving on. I'll maybe go back to Hockey Canada.
You settled on behalf of these players, some of whom were not contacted beforehand. I believe you advised all players after the settlement. Today you've answered on why you settled, and we're going to accept that answer, but I don't feel you've answered on why you didn't settle through insurance. You settled through the national equity fund, which is parents' fees going into their kids' hockey teams. That's the fund that was used. The perception that a settlement came through the national equity fund instead of insurance, and also that there were no minutes from any of the board meetings....
Why did you choose to settle from the national equity fund and not through insurance?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Madam Chair, there are a few things to clarify there, if I could.
First of all, I'll clarify that there are minutes from our meeting, but there are no minutes taken from in camera sessions.
We used the national equity fund because, as my colleague Mr. Cairo said earlier, there were some questions with respect to coverage. We were concerned that it would take months and maybe years to clarify that. We still maintain the right to pursue consideration of this being covered by our insurance after the fact, and we'll take the measures to look at that.
We made the decision to use the national equity fund, as I presented on June 20, in the best interest of the young woman and taking care of her needs given the circumstances.
Liberal
Tim Louis Liberal Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
As a last question, you mentioned a lifetime ban. Moving forward, if any player does not participate in investigations, they'll be banned. What about players who are involved in a settlement? If they went through an investigation and there was a settlement, would those players be allowed to continue playing? We don't want this culture of actually encouraging these settlements and allowing these incidents to continue to happen.
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Madam Chair, we certainly share that view. We don't want individuals who conduct themselves in this manner in our system. If they are proven to have done this through an investigation, then they will not be entitled to participate in our programs. If someone chooses—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
That's it. The time is up, Tim. Thanks very much.
I will now go to Mr. Lemire for two and a half minutes.
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Smith, I'd like to begin by coming back to the topic raised earlier by my colleague Mr. Lemire. He talked about your change in attitude since the June 20 meeting of this committee. I don't think you quite understand what this change in attitude represents. It wasn't just Mr. Lemire and I who noticed your attitude at the time. It was mentioned in many articles. Even some hockey associations noticed your tone and the way you trivialized the facts at that meeting by comparing cases of abuse within Hockey Canada to those in society in general. It really struck a chord.
A coach in my riding, a parent, heard, noticed and qualified your tone. We have the impression that it took a knife to your throat to appear today and to show much more sincerity. Unfortunately, the fact remains that it took a knife to your throat to change your attitude.
You also said that you produced a draft report and implemented the 11 recommendations in it today. Why not make that report more public? Why try, again, to hide all of this by using a sexual assault reserve fund, let alone what you've done to date?
We really feel like you've been more focused on protecting the image of Hockey Canada. That's really what this case is all about.
To reassure the victims, can you tell us what Hockey Canada's approach will be going forward?
What advice would you give to a parent who has heard their child talk about a case of abuse? What is the process for supporting a victim?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Madam Chair, I'd say a few things, if I could.
First of all, I would say once again...and those people who know me outside of this room. If my attitude came across differently on June 20, there was no intention with that. Maybe it was because it was the first time I went through that. I'm not sure. I definitely don't feel that I trivialized any incidents in our game. One incident is one too many. I think I said that on June 20.
With respect to using money, we haven't used money to protect our image. We've used money to respond to and support victims, or we've used our money to support individuals who have suffered an injury that is not fully covered by insurance. We've used money to support families.
Going forward, we have an action plan that consists of a number of things. I don't expect Canadians to say, “Yes, that's good” today. I asked earlier for an opportunity to be measured on the work that we will do on that action plan. The governance review will provide direction. If there are changes required there, we're prepared to accept those. We'll name a third party oversight committee with strong leadership that will make sure we deliver on all of our obligations. We'll—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you. The time is up. I'm so sorry.
We will go now to Peter Julian for the NDP.
Peter, you have two and a half minutes.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thanks, Madam Chair.
I have some brief questions to which I'd like brief answers.
I was surprised that when we asked for the board minutes, we were not told that the discussions of the board took place in camera. There were no minutes, nothing to indicate that the association had actually formalized the decision.
Is that the case with all of the nine victim payouts that have been made? Were they all decided upon in camera, with no copies of any minutes?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
Before I turn to Mr. Cairo on that, I would like to clarify that in the minutes you received, there would have been a reference to discussions but not the content of those discussions, because they were in camera.
Chief Financial Officer, Hockey Canada
Madam Chair, I'm not aware of any minutes existing, but that's simply because I haven't gone back and looked for the previous ones.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Has this been the practice, then, with Hockey Canada when they are talking about victim compensation?
Chief Financial Officer, Hockey Canada
I can't tell you. A lot of those dates are back in the eighties and nineties, and I haven't searched the minutes.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
It would be helpful for Hockey Canada to provide further information to our committee.
Did you, in each of these cases, advise the government, advise Sport Canada, who is a major funder?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
We advised Sport Canada starting in 2018, when that protocol came into being.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
So not previously to that. Have Sport Canada and the minister's office ever contacted you to get more information and more clarification?
President and Chief Operating Officer, Hockey Canada
To date, our protocol with Sport Canada has been to notify them. As I said earlier, I believe now, with the 2003 world junior incidents, we've reported four to Sport Canada since 2018. Two were of one family, and then 2018 and 2003.
