Official Languages Committee on May 3rd, 2007

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Excuse me for interrupting, Mr. Marcil.

Mr. Godin, your seven minutes are up.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Chairman, I hope that those seven minutes do not include the time taken up with your point of order? No? Good.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you very much, but no, we didn't use that time.

I would just like to remind the members of the committee before we ask the next question to please direct your comments and questions through the chair. I would ask our guests as well to direct your comments through the chair.

Thank you very much.

The next question will come from Ms. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to thank each of you for being here today, to help us gain a better understanding of the issue.

Before I give the floor to my colleague, I would like to explain some ideas that should be put forward here. First of all, I would like to reiterate our government's unswerving commitment to promoting linguistic duality in Canada and internationally. Our government believes it has an obligation to promote both official languages within the Canadian sport system, and within all aspects of Canadians' lives.

We supported this motion because we wanted to hear your version of the facts, and understand the process you used to select the captain of the Canadian hockey team at the World Ice Hockey Championships. We have absolutely no intention of politicizing our national sport here. So for that reason, I would again thank you for being here today.

I would like to point out that our government joins all Canadians from coast to coast to coast in wishing Team Canada the very best of luck, with a single voice. We are all proud of our team, and we hope they come back to us with a gold medal.

I will let my colleague Michael Chong have the floor.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you, Ms. Boucher.

Mr. Chong.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would also like to stress that our government joins all Canadians from coast to coast to coast to wish our national team, our Team Canada, the very best of luck, with a single voice. We are proud of the entire team, and we hope that they will win gold on behalf of all Canadians.

So we're proud to support you financially because we believe in a strong national hockey team, a strong Team Canada, so that we can compete with the best in the world and win gold. While we in part support you financially, you are also an arm's-length body, an independent organization of the federal government. So the hockey team selection and the selection of team captain is the responsibility of Hockey Canada and is not something the Government of Canada has any say in. We're here today because we have been criticized for not interfering in the selection of captain to Team Canada's hockey team. That's why we supported the motion to have you appear in front of committee, to provide you with an opportunity on the parliamentary record to tell us what the case is.

So thank you very much for taking time out of your very busy schedule. I know it has taken you away from Russia to testify in front of this committee.

I have a question. Our government believes in the promotion of linguistic duality in Canada, and promotes both official languages within the Canadian sport system.

I know that as a national sport organization you've been a big supporter of our policy of official bilingualism and of ensuring access to services in French. I also know that you've been big supporter of diversity and of encouraging persons with a disability.

Could you tell us a little bit about the programs and initiatives in this regard? I know you mentioned the program Speak Out, but maybe you could tell us about other initiatives you have with regard to bilingualism, diversity, and the promotion of sport for persons with a disability.

[Bob Nicholson]

Thank you very much.

We do have the same goals when I look around this table, and hopefully we can all be on the same team. We do look at promoting both languages in this country. We're proud that we're one of the few sports with a full-time translator. We have an office in Montreal. We have a great partner in Hockey Québec, and we want to make sure that any time we develop what we feel are the best programs in the world in hockey, they come out in both official languages. That's a mandate within our board. It's a mandate within our day-to-day operations, and any time there is any type of comment on it, we feel we have a great partnership with Sport Canada. I think if you looked at their report card on how we deal with both official languages, it would be very good. I could let them speak to that.

The other thing is about winning. It is very difficult to win on the international stage. As every Canadian knows, we won the gold in the Olympics in 1952. It took us 50 years to stand on that podium again.

Over the last ten years, we've won more gold medals than this country has ever seen, looking at the women's world championships. Now we're at the three-peat in the world juniors. We've won two gold medals at the men's world championships in the last number of years. It's a difficult process, and I'm happy to hear the comments around this table that you support our team. We're going to be in for one heck of a ride here in Russia, but we want to be up to the challenge and we want our team to grow together. You don't win when people are trying to rip teammates away from that group. The leader of that group is so important.

In the programs we do, we try not just to lead in hockey; we want to lead in sport in this country in all of our programs. In our diversity program, our recruitment program, we have started to do more of that; we just had a very successful one in Toronto this last week.

When you look at the demographics of this country and who is entering this country, it has changed. It's not like it was a number of years ago, when every two-year-old got a pair of skates. We understand that. We want all Canadians to participate in the game of hockey and we're looking at different ways to recruit young boys and girls to the game so that they can have a positive experience and grow their individual lives from the sport--all sports, and in our case, hockey.

You can look at sledge hockey. I remember talking to my good friend Tom Scrimger, who said, “Bob, please; we need you to take the lead role with sledge hockey to show--”

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Mr. Nicholson, unfortunately I seem to always interject at mid-sentence. However, I'm trying to be equally fair to all members.

The next question will be from Mr. Rodriguez. This is a five-minute round.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning and welcome to our witnesses. Thank you for being here. I would like to say that we are all rooting for Team Canada, not only government members but everyone around this table. Each and every one of us would like the team to win gold.

I would just like some details. I completely agree that we're talking about allegations only. No one is trying to play judge or anything of the sort. We are talking about allegations, but nonetheless we need some clarification. Mr. Nicholson, I believe that earlier you said:

“those words were said on the ice”

but not by Mr. Doan.

Is that what you said?

[Bob Nicholson]

Could you say that again, please?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

You said:

“those words were said on the ice”, but not by Mr. Doan.

[Bob Nicholson]

Yes. That is the information I got through the investigation by the National Hockey League. That's why there was no further suspension of Shane Doan. They definitely could not prove that those statements were from Shane Doan.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

You see, that is the aspect I am interested in. We are talking about allegations, we are hearing what such and such a person might have said.

For example, in the case of the linesman, Mr. Cormier, he was asked if he had clearly seen Mr. Doan say that. He was under oath and he said yes. He was asked if he reported that fact to the head referee or to the person in the penalty box. Mr. Cormier answered that the two referees were there. When he was asked if he was facing Mr. Doan when Mr. Doan said that, he replied that he was right beside him. Finally, when he was asked how far he was away from him, he replied with a gesture like this.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Mr. Rodriguez, I do not think you should talk about a specific case. Mr. Nicholson did not look after that case.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I simply want to explain that for Mr. Cormier, it is clear that things occurred in the way that he reported them. I am not saying that Mr. Doan said what he is being accused of saying. What I am trying to say is that these are allegations coming from two people whose versions are contradictory. So this allegation is lingering and it could have encouraged you to take a step back, and, perhaps, avoid appointing him captain, since the allegations existed. You could have done that without necessarily concluding that they were well-founded. Do you see what I mean?

[Bob Nicholson]

First of all, it's very difficult to comment on some of these things because of the legal situation that sits there. But I can tell you that the information we got was that Shane Doan very clearly did not say this. The other thing we should be clear about is that there were people on the ice who may have said this who weren't Canadians.

We're criticizing a Canadian player and a Canadian team, and when all of this comes out later it might not have been a Canadian.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I understand that the person responsible may not be Mr. Doan. However, Mr. Cormier, in his official report to the league—and he repeated it under oath—said that Mr. Doan was the one who said that. Mr. Nagy had used the same words earlier. The linesman then went to the team's bench to tell Mr. Tockett that he would no longer tolerate those comments. Mr. Tockett apparently informed his players to stop making comments like that, and it was after that that Mr. Doan apparently used those words.

Here again, it is simply an issue of this cloud, this perception that comments like those might have been made and the impact that that can have on our hockey team's image.

[René Marcil]

If I may, Mr. Chairman, I would like to add something.

Mr. Rodriguez, I think that what is important is that we too have a procedure to follow. Bear in mind that the incident occurred within the National Hockey League. The National Hockey League is our partner. We do not investigate on behalf of the National Hockey League. It is like saying that the league is not doing its job properly and that we do not believe the outcome of its investigation. I think that consideration is important, because it is our main partner, with the government of course, and everyone else. We told the National Hockey League to provide us with its version of the facts, to share its decision with us. That is what Bob did. Mr. Doan did not make those remarks. As far as we are concerned, it is important to work with the National Hockey League and to accept its report. We cannot ask the National Hockey League to rehear the case. That is not within our purview. At Hockey Canada, we make our decision based on the reports. We have confidence in the commission and in the National Hockey League. We go by what they tell us.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

But can we see the report? Has it been tabled?

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Mr. Rodriguez, your time is up. The next question will be asked by Mr. Poilievre.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Thank you for your testimony.

Well, Canadians in my riding are telling me that at this point they'd like to put the politicians in the penalty box and let Team Canada put the puck in the net.

The constituents of my riding support Team Canada, we want our team to win, and bring home victory for all Canadians, English and French speakers alike. I believe that as a team, you are entitled to focus entirely on victory. The reason why we agreed to invite you to appear before this committee is to give you the opportunity to explain your point of view, and not to try and appoint members to your team. That is not our role.

And I'll say it again: it's not our role. It's not the role of politicians or government to pick the team captain. It's not our job. We trust the hockey experts to do that.

I do, however, wish to ask you a question regarding process. If I understand correctly, Sport Canada is not involved in the process of naming a team's captain.

Is this correct, Mr. Paquette?

[Jacques Paquette]

That is correct.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Therefore, neither the government nor a government organization has the power to appoint the team captain. Is that correct?

[Jacques Paquette]

Exactly. You are describing the situation very clearly.

Under the terms of a contribution agreement, we provide funds on certain conditions, but it is the independent and non-governmental organization, which in this case happens to be Hockey Canada, which oversees management.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Nicholson, I wonder if you might do us all a favour here and take back to the entire team that we are 100% behind them. We want them to win. We believe in each and every single one of them.

I'll say to Monsieur Marcil,

can you also convey to the members of the team that we are all behind them? We want them to win, and we are all proud of the team that we have.

Do I have any time remaining?