Hockey Canada’s president says members of the 2018 World Junior Team in countries that do not follow the investigation of allegations of collective sexual assault that year will be banned from the organization.
“In 2018, we resumed an independent investigation into alleged sexual assault. Players who do not participate will be banned from all immediate Canadian activities and programs,” Scott Smith said in July on Canadian heritage. He told the Commons House Standing Committee. 27.
Smith, who assumed the role of President and CEO of Hockey Canada on July 1, said that once the investigation was completed, an independent judge would be able to complete a governance review of Hockey Canada’s management and determine appropriate results. He said he would be referred to the committee.
Smith said details about who will lead the review will be revealed in the coming days.
The investigation will take place after Hockey Canada filed a $ 3.55 million lawsuit against the National Sports Federation a month ago and reached a settlement with a woman in May.
The proceedings alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by eight former Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players after an event at the Hockey Canada Foundation in London, Ontario, June 2018.
The identities of the victims and the players allegedly involved in the assault have not been disclosed. Neither claim has been proved in court.
Smith also said a similar investigation would be conducted to investigate another sexual assault case involving members of Hockey Canada’s 2003 World Junior Championships team.
“The Canadians were clear. They hope that those who represent our sport will be better. Many of the actions we are taking now should be taken sooner and sooner. We own it and will do our best to fulfill your responsibilities to the Canadians, “he said.
Investigation
Immediately after alleged sexual assault in 2018, Hockey Canada contacted Henein Hutchison LLP to investigate the case. The mission was given to a law firm partner, Daniel Lobitail.
At a meeting of the Canadian Cultural Heritage Commission on July 26, Robitail was able to interview 10 of the 19 players of the 2018 World Junior Hockey Team who attended the London event, according to a third-party survey. Told.
The remaining nine said they would not participate in the investigation at the time until the London police had completed the criminal investigation.
However, after police closed the investigation in February 2019 without prosecution, Lobitail said the alleged victim would not provide a statement of her version of what happened in June 2018 through a lawyer. He said he couldn’t interview the player yet.
“I wasn’t ready to interview those players without the complainant’s version of the event,” Robitail told the committee. “We couldn’t interview the player without giving them a fair notice of what was being claimed.”
Henein Hutchison finally closed the investigation, but reached an agreement with Hockey Canada to resume the proceedings at any time. Reported by CBC..
Robitaille also said he was concerned that eight of the nine players who did not interview would be “pre-judged” as guilty by some politicians and hockey Canadian authorities.
“They have expressed concern about my investigation, especially as it relates to comments by politicians and members of Canadian hockey. They are concerned that this issue has been pre-judged.” Said.
“I am addressing those concerns and trying to mitigate those concerns. I want to voluntarily comply with my investigation.”
Federal Sports Ministers Pascal Stoongji and Justin Trudeau have criticized Hockey Canada after announcing a settlement with the organization’s out-of-court victims in May.
“Our level of trust in Canadian hockey is currently very low,” St-Onge said at a committee meeting on July 26.
Canadian Press contributed to this article.
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Andrew Chen is a Toronto-based Epoch Times reporter.