Thank you.
My name is Jessica. I'm an advocate for sexual assault survivors. I'm certified in trauma-informed practice and I hold a first-class honours degree in law. This is the first time I've advocated for myself.
My decision to be here today was not taken lightly. I made a choice between reaching a resolution with Hockey Canada via the ITP or using My Voice to stand beside Canadian athletes to plead with the government to help victims.
I don't want to see more half-hearted pity. I want change. I have significant concerns that the ITP process will cause many like me to consider rescinding and retracting complaints. It is not trauma-informed, or even trauma-respectful, and it greatly jeopardizes true legal processes. What good does that do?
I'm not an athlete, but I lodged a complaint to BC Hockey in 2021. The response was pathetic. I had no confidence in their ability to handle historical sexual assault complaints. The ITP accepted the complaint last year, but only because my husband, a coach and Hockey Canada member for over 18 years, interacts with the respondent in his work—not simply because the respondent is a member himself.
I was provided with very little information on how this process would go. Had I known, I would not have agreed to it. I have a very short time, so I will try to fit all of this in.
I was told that if the victim is not “in hockey” the misconduct policy may not apply and that survivor support services are not available to non-members.
My identity was not protected. My name and the allegation were simply emailed to the respondent with no safety or risk assessment carried out. You cannot lean on your support system, or speak about the process. I was left vulnerable and exposed. I was discouraged from reporting to the police until the investigation had finished, despite frequently stating I wished to do so.
The interviews were antagonistic to the point of bringing me to tears, cutting me off, speaking over me. There are significant risks of evidence contamination, with each party's evidence and responses relayed back and forth over several interviews and sometimes via email. It lacks integrity. But perhaps that is the point: The fine print suggests that the ITP and Hockey Canada are one and the same, after all.
The ITP deemed it appropriate to hold a hearing between the parties in which the respondent would receive submissions and disclosures of evidence and have the opportunity to directly ask questions of me. This is a sexual assault case. No matter how much I protest and tell them how harmful this is, they push for the victim to attend a meeting with the alleged assailant to talk it out. This is nothing short of cruel. They operate as a pseudo court without the legislative or personal protections. Victims are faced with a wall of lawyers and risk managers attempting to distance Hockey Canada from liability and the imbalance of protecting a respondent's unqualified right to participate in sport with that of protecting athletes and victims from harm.
There have been multiple people involved in this ITP process, none of whom are there to advocate or support victims, but all of them continue to profit from our trauma. The system has not changed. It is all the same people under different and entities and process, all conflicted by their own affiliations and personal interests. They may call it safe sport and sport integrity, but it is anything but.
Survivors are tired of fighting the system from every angle, but this one shouldn't be so hard.
I'll turn it over to Kelly.