Canadian Heritage Committee on July 27th, 2022

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Certainly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We have one minute left. Everybody will have to be swift with their answer, please.

[Dan MacKenzie]

If it's okay, Chair, I'll turn it over to Mr. Branch. As Mr. Smith mentioned, they have a program they work on with the regional rape crisis centre.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Branch, go ahead, please.

[David Branch]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll try to be swift.

As stated, in 2015 we developed a program with the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres. It's a program that is designed to teach players about their responsibility on how to respect and treat women and really work in that whole genre. We're currently working to expand that program. That was before this committee hearing was called. We recognized the importance of our players understanding the role that they should play and must play.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

I don't think I have much time left, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Monsieur Lemire from the Bloc Québécois, you have six minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Smith, in your opening statement, you said that Canadians' trust had been eroded. You acknowledged that. You said that you were willing to do whatever it took, including apologizing. You seem to be sincere.

I do have the following question, though. What exactly are you apologizing for?

[Scott Smith]

I think I've recognized, and we've recognized in our open letter to Canadians, that in 2018 we should have done more and could have done more and could have done things quicker. I apologize for that. We've reopened the investigation. We take the allegations—we did in 2018, and we continue to—very seriously, as I know you do. We are looking for a meaningful conclusion.

As Ms. Robitaille said yesterday to you and the members of this committee, she's looking to confirm the truth. That's her mandate. We're hopeful that we can do that and share the findings of her work with that three-person adjudication panel and take the appropriate actions.

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

I think—and I've said this publicly—that the latest measures you've taken are good ones; they are a step in the right direction.

Be that as it may, I really have the sense that nothing at Hockey Canada would have changed had I not done my job as a parliamentarian, had all the parties not come together to get to the bottom of what happened in June of 2018 and in all the other cases in which Hockey Canada was involved, had there not been a public outcry, had the women's team at Hockey Canada not come out with that very dignified statement this week, had the media not taken the story and run with it.

If it took all that public pressure for you to step up, how can we trust you to do what it takes?

[Scott Smith]

Madam Chair, I do want to say that, after Mr. McCurdie's retirement in December of last year.... Glen was an excellent long-term employee with Hockey Canada who held significant responsibilities.

We launched a safe sport department. We hired a lead there. We've looked to expand that safe sport department, so yes, there's been lots of work that's been done in the last six weeks, but our interest in providing a safe environment and having a safe sport department that could ensure that we can deliver on that for our membership and for Canadians happened well before the media attention and the attention at this committee.

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

You said you also had a message for victims.

What is that message?

[Scott Smith]

First and foremost, we take any of these situations very seriously. They're very troubling for me as a hockey parent. They're very troubling for you and for Canadians.

We said in our open letter that we want to hear from victims. If there are victims from events at the national level, that will be part of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. We have a new system that we will have in place for anything below the national level, where it will be independent and have a third party investigate and review, and we will be able to report on all of those issues.

At the end of the day, our 100% goal is to eliminate individuals being victimized in the sport of hockey, and if we can use that to send a message to broader sport or to Canadians, then that's great, but our efforts are to eliminate any inappropriate activity in the game.

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

You were aware of sexual allegations in the past. You just mentioned that you, yourself, were a parent.

Would you have let your own daughter participate in activities run by Hockey Canada or one of its partners, knowing that a culture demeaning to women existed?

[Scott Smith]

For clarity, we have one child, and he's 18. I don't have a daughter, but I do have a wife and I have a sister. I do believe, like you, that the current situation we're in is very troubling. Canadians are questioning. I think we're putting in place even further measures to make sure that we're delivering a safe environment.

I heard from our national women's team players this week. I certainly welcome the opportunity to work with them. They have a strong voice. They're a voice that we and others will listen to, and I do think that there certainly is an opportunity to put young girls in the game and deliver in a safe environment.

If, for some reason, there are incidents with young girls or young boys, we want to make sure that we take every measure to address those and ensure their safety. We're also going to further enhance our efforts, because we do have strong education initiatives, and further enhance our education initiatives, for example, like Mr. Branch said earlier.

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

I want to wrap up by saying how appalling it is to see—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 22 seconds.

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

—that, clearly, money is king at Hockey Canada, that some people are above the law, that the culture of silence has endured for years.

I, too, read Sheldon Kennedy's statement, and I read it carefully. Although I feel you're being sincere right now, I have to tell you that I stand with those who don't think you are the right person—if even just symbolically—to lead the sweeping changes needed at every level of the Hockey Canada organization, right down to the dressing room.

Thank you for being here, Mr. Smith.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Sébastien.

I now go to Mr. Julian for the NDP.

You have six minutes, Peter.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Since your last hearing here, Mr. Smith, when you came forward in June, and I believe you stonewalled committee, refused to answer very valid questions that were asked of you, and Hockey Canada refused to answer those questions as well, what we have seen is a complete erosion in the public trust. Very important people in the hockey world, like Sheldon Kennedy, the women's Olympic hockey team and numerous sponsors have withdrawn from Hockey Canada. The Canadian public has lost confidence in Hockey Canada. Of that there is no doubt. I find that this hearing today is really the last opportunity for Hockey Canada to try to establish some credibility.

In your initial comments, Mr. Smith, you said that there's no one in Hockey Canada who was aware of the horrific allegations of 2003. Is that the position of Hockey Canada, that the allegations of 2003, no one in the organization was aware of them?

[Scott Smith]

I became aware of the details of the allegation—or Hockey Canada did as well—on whatever the Thursday was last week. We were not aware before.

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

Is it the position of Hockey Canada that you're not aware of any further allegations of any impropriety, sexual violence, sexual abuse?

[Scott Smith]

Are you speaking related to the 2003—

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

I'm speaking related to 2003 or any other incidents.

[Scott Smith]

Mr. Cairo can walk you through the historical questions with respect to sexual abuse incidents or claims.

To be very clear, we became aware of the details of the 2003 incident on that Thursday evening. About two weeks before that, a former staff member had reached out to current staff and said that they had heard a rumour that something bad had happened. We immediately hired an independent investigator, but we were not aware of the details. When we did receive the email from Mr. Westhead—we obviously take those very seriously—we immediately reported it to the Halifax police service.

We've encouraged anyone who has any of those details to come forward to assist in the investigation.