Hockey Canada still has work to do, advocates say — despite World Juniors success | 24CA News
Team Canada gained back-to-back gold medals in a nail-biting additional time recreation on the World Juniors hockey event in Halifax Thursday night time, as followers proceed to marvel over the exploits of 17-year-old Connor Bedard, who has been smashing on-ice information.
But now that the thrill is throughout, advocates and consultants say it is time for Hockey Canada to refocus on the scandal hanging over its head.
“Perhaps predictably, we haven’t heard from Hockey Canada as it’s allowed the focus to be on the current games. And I really hope they start to announce their vision, their mandates, to take a look at, ‘what do we do now?'” stated Tim Skuce, an affiliate professor at Manitoba’s Brandon University who has revealed analysis on elite male hockey gamers and hockey tradition, together with homophobia, hyper-masculine beliefs, sexism, and extreme violence.
“You can see many Canadians getting excited with the game. You’ve got some superior talent. However, there’s still an underbelly to this game.”
“I think it’s a serious misstep if we take the success of the World Juniors this year and say all is good just based on the performance of the game and on the ice,” stated Skuce, a former elite hockey participant himself, now a hockey father or mother.
‘There’s one thing systemic’
Most main sponsors pulled their help from Team Canada and the event after it was revealed that Hockey Canada has settled sexual assault claims utilizing cash from registration charges. Police are investigating no less than two separate alleged group sexual assaults involving former Team Canada junior hockey gamers between 2003 to 2018.
The board and CEO of Hockey Canada resigned and an interim board was elected in mid-December.
Court paperwork that embody interview transcripts and search warrant requests reveal why police say they’ve affordable grounds to accuse 5 former World Junior hockey gamers of sexually assaulting a lady in a London, Ont., lodge room in 2018.
WATCH | Advocates need accountability:
Victims rights advocates are demanding accountability months after Halifax police introduced that they had opened an investigation into an alleged group sexual assault on the 2003 World Juniors hockey event.
There are additionally police and third-party investigations into an alleged 2003 occasion in Halifax.
None of the police allegations have been confirmed in courtroom and no costs have been laid.
Skuce says the brand new board must be candid concerning the standing of the investigations into the allegations and clear on how the claims have been handled. Players must also be held accountable, he stated, and he is watching to see if police lay costs.
“It’s often dismissed as just a couple of bad apples and I think through the abuses that we’ve seen through multiple entities, it’s not a one-off — there’s something systemic that’s embedded itself in hockey culture,” Skuce stated.
Give new Hockey Canada board an opportunity: IIHF head
At a news convention Thursday morning, officers from Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) emphasised the success of this World Juniors event slightly than the cloud hanging over it.
More than three million Canadians watched the quarter-finals on host broadcaster TSN, placing it within the high three sporting occasions of the yr, IIHF president Luc Tardif stated. As properly, 98.6 per cent of tickets had been used and greater than 210,000 individuals attended the venues in Moncton and Halifax.
“I think that was the best medicine for Canadian hockey and international hockey after this difficult year,” Tardif stated.
He stated the IIHF is following the state of affairs intently however the legal investigations are a “Canadian affair” that he wouldn’t touch upon.
Tardif admitted there was injury to Hockey Canada’s repute and model however stated he has confidence the brand new board and chair can right the state of affairs.
“I don’t want to forget what happened, but there was a success, we saw fantastic games, a lot of people [attended],” he stated.
Dean McIntosh, Hockey Canada’s vice-president answerable for occasions, wouldn’t present an replace into the inner investigations into the 2003 and 2018 allegations, however did touch upon the affect of main sponsors pulling their help.
“Our focus hasn’t been on the bottom line financially,” he stated.
“Our focus has really been on how do we bring a great product back to Canadians? How do we make the World Juniors a destination for fans? … So while financially that has been a challenge as it relates to our sponsors, we understand why they paused [their support].”
WATCH | New particulars revealed about 2018 allegations:
Recently filed courtroom paperwork lay out why police are looking for search warrants to additional their investigation into 5 members of the 2018 World Junior hockey staff they imagine had been concerned in an alleged sexual assault of a lady in London, Ont. None of the police allegations have been examined in courtroom and no costs have been laid.
In an e-mail change late Thursday, the brand new chair of the interim Hockey Canada board of administrators advised 24CA News transparency and accountability will likely be key pillars as they attempt to make constructive change that may profit all Canadians.
“We are already hard at work, and while we recognize that trust cannot be earned overnight, we will do what’s necessary to get it done right,” Hon. Hugh L. Fraser stated.
Hockey Canada has not too long ago applied quite a few key initiatives in sport security, together with establishing the Independent Third Party, updating and adopting new codes of conduct, changing into a full signatory to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, endeavor an impartial governance assessment and starting the method of reviewing and implementing these suggestions, he stated.
Fraser stated the investigation into the allegations of sexual assault in 2003 stays ongoing.
The impartial investigation of the 2018 incident is full and the investigator has delivered its report back to the adjudication panel. All data in regards to the contents of the investigator’s report, the adjudication, and any enchantment are confidential, he added.
Hockey Canada’s worldwide repute broken
The controversy has harm Hockey Canada’s repute internationally, stated Henrik Sjoberg, a journalist at Hockey News Sweden.
“I think it definitely has an effect because Canada is like the home of hockey in so many ways,” he stated.
The scandal has been in headlines and on discuss reveals in Sweden because the summer season, when the COVID-postponed event was being performed in Edmonton, Sjoberg stated. And whereas sexual abuse scandals in sports activities usually are not unique to North America, Sjoberg stated individuals have been shocked by the way in which Hockey Canada dealt with the allegations.
“You want to play big games against Canada and and you want to beat them when it comes to hockey,” he stated.
“So now when this happened off the ice … I think a lot of people get to see a darker side of it and have to kind of feel like this is just a bad thing around Hockey Canada.”
Sjoberg says a part of the issue is the way in which elite gamers in North America are placed on pedestals, changing into “very big stars” at a younger age.
“It’s such an important thing to get these kids to learn from the beginning how to behave and to be good human beings,” he stated. “They have to just do better.”
‘Being held to account … is vital’
As the event attracts to an in depth, protected sport advocate Allison Forsyth says it has been exhausting for some followers to separate the Hockey Canada scandal and the success Team Canada has had on the ice — however she additionally hopes the intense issues aren’t forgotten within the pleasure.
“I think it’s incredible that the crowds are out there and we should always be supporting excellent athleticism and cheering on our Canadians in this tournament,” stated Forsyth, co-founder of ITP Sport and Recreation, a protected sport programming and consulting company.
But, having labored with Hockey Canada prior to now, she says she has a full consciousness of the sort of challenges they face in shifting the darkish facet of hockey tradition.
“I think being held to account for very poor decisions in the past is important,” she stated.
Forsyth — a two-time Canadian alpine snowboarding Olympian — is a survivor of sexual abuse within the Canadian sport system. She was sexually abused by Alpine Canada coach Bertrand Charest in 1997 and 1998.
Today, she’s a mom of two hockey-playing kids.
She stated she’s assured there have been checks and balances in place on the World Juniors, however she stated extra should be performed in any respect ranges to take away the environments and alternatives for abuse to happen.
Forsyth additionally does not assume any group needs to be dealing with its personal complaints, and there needs to be extra due course of and transparency. She’s calling for a whole overhaul of what behaviors are permitted on and off the ice — and the way maltreatment is dealt with in any respect ranges of hockey.
“What I see every day in our arenas still across this country is a very non-conducive culture to positivity: lots of yelling, lots of berating, parent abuse, hazing, bullying,” she stated.
“I don’t want to be overly negative here, but it is a huge problem. They need to dig very, very, very deep to shift this.”
