Canadian Heritage Committee on July 27th, 2022

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

Madam Chair, I can confirm that the interpretation is working in French.

[Justin Vaive]

Madam Chair, you can resume. The interpretation is fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

It's fine with you; I'm hoping I will get English interpretation. Thank you very much.

Once again, Mr. MacKenzie, please begin. You have five minutes.

[Dan MacKenzie]

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Dan MacKenzie. I began my role as president of the Canadian Hockey League in September of 2019, a little over a year after the June 2018 Hockey Canada gala.

The CHL is comprised of three leagues: the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The commissioners of these three leagues are with me today to assist the committee in any way we can to answer your questions—any that would relate to the 2018 Hockey Canada gala or any other topic. The three constituent leagues in the CHL have a total of 60 privately or community owned and operated teams, and approximately 1,400 players. Of the 60 teams, eight are located in the United States, while the remaining 52 are in communities from Cape Breton to Victoria.

I wish we were here under different circumstances. As the father of two teenagers, I know that the issues we're going to speak about today are extremely important to parents across this country. We are concerned for the victims of the 2018 and recently reported 2003 world junior teams, as the allegations are horrific. We feel strongly that this is a critical time in our sport. We will fully co-operate with police and other investigations, and expect that any player responsible will be subject to criminal accountability.

Each year, our leagues along with our 60 owners review our policies and educational programs designed for players, coaches, billet families and team staff. For many years, our leagues have conducted training on consent and sexual misconduct, and have worked with organizations, including regional rape crisis centres, the Canadian Mental Health Association, police services, the Canadian Red Cross, and respect in sport, to deliver those programs. Obviously, given the revelations of the past weeks, we ask ourselves: How can we do more to protect victims of sexual misconduct, the communities in which we play, and the reputation of hockey?

Over the past 18 months, we have received two independent reports on how we can improve our respective policies, procedures and training programs relating to off-ice conduct, and are committed to adopting a broad set of recommendations in time for this upcoming season. Having said that, we know that we aren't going to eliminate the type of behaviour alleged in these cases with just policy improvements. The experts have told us that a key element to improvement is a truly independent system of complaints and investigation on these issues to encourage players and other witnesses to come forward knowing that they will be protected from reprisal. On July 15 the CHL's member leagues unanimously endorsed the creation of an independent system of dealing with complaints for implementation this season.

The CHL is part of a larger hockey ecosystem. We stand willing to work with the recommendations of this committee, hockey organizations and outside experts to make real change. Players, no matter their skill, must know that they cannot act with impunity. If they break the law, they will face criminal penalties and severe sanctioning from the CHL or its regional league.

With respect to the world junior tournaments and the 2018 Hockey Canada gala, I would like to note the following for the committee. The gala took place in June, after the end of the CHL season. All of the players on the world junior team were subject to the jurisdiction and supervision of Hockey Canada during the world junior tournaments and the Hockey Canada awards gala. The team was made up of approximately 22 players, all of whom had signed professional contracts. The following season, two of those 22 players returned to the CHL after starting the season with their professional club.

The CHL received the statement of claim in May of 2022. Like all Canadians, we were shocked by the allegations. The CHL was not involved in any settlement discussions with the plaintiff or her counsel. We signed the settlement only after it was negotiated and signed by the plaintiff and Hockey Canada. At the time of the settlement, we were seeking an opinion on whether the claim could be struck against the CHL, as we did not believe we were a proper party to be included in this legal action.

In closing, we look forward to the report of this committee. We are committed to working with you to ensure that hockey remains Canada's game. We want to take care not to damage the reputation of the millions of Canadians who play, coach and volunteer in hockey arenas across this country who are committed, enjoy their experience and have done nothing to warrant the feelings that many Canadians are currently expressing about those involved in these terrible incidents.

We are open to the committee to ask any questions of me or the three commissioners.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. MacKenzie.

Am I to understand that the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec hockey league and the Western Hockey League are here in an advisory capacity to answer any pertinent questions, but they are not bringing witness presentations? Is that right?

[Dan MacKenzie]

That is correct, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

I now move on to Hockey Canada with Mr. Smith, Mr. Cairo, Mr. Andrews and Mr. Renney.

You have five minutes as Hockey Canada to present. You may decide who wants to do your presentation or how you want that presentation to occur.

Thank you.

[Scott Smith]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm Scott Smith, the current president and CEO of Hockey Canada, and I'll speak on behalf of our organization.

We welcome this opportunity to speak to the committee once again.

Let me start today by reiterating that Hockey Canada understands Canadians' trust in us has been eroded, and we are committed to take every action possible to earn it back. That includes apologizing for not doing enough to address the actions of some members of the 2018 world junior team.

I know you have questions about the leadership of Hockey Canada and about my leadership. You want answers, and you want to see real action taken to end the culture of silence that allows toxic behaviour and sexism to fester in corners of our game. I do too.

You have asked for transparency. You've asked for accountability. You've asked for Hockey Canada to change. I am here to lead that change.

I took on this role a little over a month ago, just as you and Canadians challenged us to fix our house. I will not walk away from the demands you have rightly put before us. We can and must do better. We know we must make meaningful change to earn back your trust. Last month we committed that we would act, and we have taken the following steps.

We've reopened the independent investigation into the alleged sexual assault in 2018. Any player who does not participate will be banned from all Hockey Canada activities and programs, effective immediately. The investigation, once complete, will be referred to an independent panel of current and former judges to determine the appropriate consequences.

We acknowledge the courage of the young woman involved and respect her decision to participate with the investigation in the manner she chooses.

We are expanding the mandatory training not only for high-performance players, but also for coaches, team staff and volunteers. We'll dramatically expand the number of players who are exposed to enhance education with respect to off-ice issues and to drive a speak-up culture. These players will carry that training back to their leagues, provincial programs and minor hockey associations.

We will ask an independent third party expert panel to conduct a full governance review of Hockey Canada to ensure we have the right people and the oversight in place to give Canadians confidence in us going forward. We will have more to say on who will lead that in the coming days.

We will become a full signatory to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, which came into effect last month. As well, we are creating a new independent and confidential mechanism to investigate complaints, even those historical in nature, to serve our membership. These and a range of other measures are included in a detailed action plan we released earlier this week.

Culture change will not take place overnight and it is not something Hockey Canada can do alone, but we believe the action plan is an important step forward. We know the work ahead of us will define the future of Hockey Canada.

Before we take your questions, I will just reiterate that the process we followed regarding the incident in London in 2018 was not perfect, but it was intended to ensure that Hockey Canada did not and could not interfere in the investigation. Hockey Canada notified police and engaged an expert firm to conduct an independent investigation that spanned more than two years. Reopening the investigation is a step towards addressing the disappointment you and so many feel about the outcome of the process we followed.

We intend to let this investigation, and that of the London Police Service, proceed with whatever support from Hockey Canada that may be requested, but we have been rightly cautioned to be diligent in any public commentary in order to preserve the integrity of these investigations. That means we will be somewhat limited in what we can say before the committee.

We heard you clearly last month that, above all, you want to see consequences for wrongdoing. So, we trust you will also be diligent to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

The same is true of the troubling information Hockey Canada received last Thursday evening relating to the 2003 World Junior Championship. We were not aware of the allegations until we received an email from Rick Westhead of TSN, but we notified Halifax police that same evening and encourage anyone who has information that can help their investigation to do the same immediately.

To close, Canadians have been clear that they expect those representing our national sport to do better. We recognize that many of the actions we are taking now should have been taken sooner and faster. We own it, and will do better to deliver on our responsibilities to Canadians.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. Smith.

Now we're going to move to the question and answer portion of the meeting. The first round is a six-minute round. The six minutes includes both questions and answers. I'm going to ask you to be as crisp and concise as possible so that each questioner can ask a few questions they may want to ask. I will once again give you a warning when you have 30 seconds left in your question.

We'll begin with Mr. John Nater for the Conservatives.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Smith, how many settlements have been paid out from the national equity fund?

[Scott Smith]

Madam Chair, Mr. Cairo will be the person who will answer the questions specific to finance and insurance. Thank you, and I will defer to him.

[Brian Cairo]

Madam Chair, out of the national equity fund, nine settlement payments have been made, totalling $7.6 million. Of that, $6.8 million was for Graham James-related incidents. Uninsured settled claims are 12 in number, for a total of $1.3 million. One perpetrator has created four of those incidents and accounts for $1 million of them.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

The total dollar figure paid out of that fund is $7.6 million. Is that correct?

[Brian Cairo]

Yes, $7.6 million, dating back to 1989.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

That fund is generated by kids' registration fees. Is that correct?

[Brian Cairo]

Yes, among other things. We have insurance from investments as well.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

From what fund was Henein Hutchison paid?

[Brian Cairo]

It was from the equity fund.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

What was the total dollar figure of that?

[Brian Cairo]

It was $280,000.

[Scott Smith]

Excuse me, but just for clarity, I believe it was $287,000.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you.

Yesterday we heard that an interim report was provided to Hockey Canada in September 2018. When was that report shared with the board of directors?

[Scott Smith]

The board of directors, in the fall of 2018, was briefed on the report and its recommendation, and the current board of directors has a copy of the report.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Were they briefed within a formal board meeting?

[Scott Smith]

They were briefed in a formal board meeting. Whether it was a scheduled board meeting or a specific conference call on that topic, I'm not certain.