Thank you, Madam Chair and honourable committee, for asking me to speak with you all today in regard to abuse in sport.
My name is Kim Taylor. I'm an American citizen and the mother of a former WHL player. My son's hockey had advanced to a level where he was being given many opportunities and choices about where he would play the following season. Ultimately he decided he really wanted to play in Canada, where hockey means everything to Canadians. He felt that would be a good home for him. He felt this would give him the best opportunity for his development and a fast track to the opportunity to play in the NHL. Few make that final jump to the NHL, and that dream didn't come true for my son. We hoped, but we were realistic and had always talked about a backup plan.
What we didn't anticipate was that the dream would be replaced with a nightmare. We didn't expect him to come home with mental health issues. As a parent, I trusted the WHL to live up to its promises and to take our teenage son under its wing and develop him not only as a hockey player but as an upstanding young man and citizen, as they promised. However, we quickly learned that once our teenager signed his player contract, the league owned him and indoctrinated him into their hockey culture. The clear message sent to players is “all for one, one for all.” What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. The culture of silence is real and it exists, not only with the players but also for their families. You don't complain and you don't tell what goes on behind closed doors. If you do, they will publicly make an example out of you. They do so as a means of intimidating other players for speaking out. Even years after leaving the CHL, players still find it difficult to go on record about their abuse. My son's abuse happened a decade ago. We still suffer pain and live with that. It took us a long time to come out and speak about it because of fear of retribution. It's hard.
The prime example of the culture of silence is that after the league was informed of my son's abuse, following my testimony in the Oregon State Senate hearings, the CHL commissioned their own independent investigation. Even after admitting fault with the way they handled my son, they never called to apologize. They never let us see the private investigation report or let us know what actions were taken by the CHL to ensure that this type of treatment wouldn't happen to other players.
I have many issues with the CHL business model but I know this is not your mandate. However, it is your mandate to provide protections for workers and athletes, not only for Canadians but for import players like my son. Canada is a global leader in hockey development. That is one of the reasons I entrusted my son into the Canadian hockey system, yet under the current policies of OSIC, CHL players have no additional protection. To make matters worse, following the Portland hearings and just before the Quebec National Assembly hearings on employment standards law changes, the CHL attempted to silence players from speaking and threatened to sue them for libel.
Clearly, through these hearings, the committee has recognized that systemic problems exist within the Canadian Hockey League. It's obvious that the Canadian Hockey League cannot police themselves. It's also clear that the CHL falls into a category that doesn't require them to be accountable to anyone—not Hockey Canada or federal or provincial governments, yet they seek amateur status under the Canadian government system for financial gain. They are not affiliated with a union or a players association.
Canadians are looking for leadership with respect to how this committee is going to handle these incidents. You also have the eyes of the world looking at the outcome.
I often wonder whether, if there had been provincial or federal regulations in place or a true third party association for players, that would have prevented the maltreatment of my son. We still need to have a federal inquiry about abuse in sports. Parents once again need reassurance that, if they send their children to play in the CHL, they will be protected.
Thank you for your time.