Message from the Hon. Hugh L. Fraser, Chair of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors

Shortly earlier than our new Hockey Canada Board of Directors was elected in December 2022, Hockey Canada underwent an impartial governance assessment that was led by the Hon. Thomas Cromwell, C.C.

Since receiving the ultimate report from Mr. Cromwell, Hockey Canada and its Members have mentioned and reviewed the findings with a aim of bringing the group’s governance construction into alignment with the suggestions of the report.

In addition to a sequence of proposals which have been authorised by the Members late final 12 months, I’m happy to share that on Sunday, a major variety of proposed By-Law modifications have been authorised unanimously by our Members, at a Special Members’ Meeting held in Québec City, Que.

It was a monumental second for our group, and I need to present a abstract of a few of the notable modifications to our By-Laws, in addition to updates on the Spring Congress, the continuing seek for Hockey Canada’s subsequent president and chief govt officer, the 2023 IIHF Annual Congress and the 2023 World Para Hockey Championship.

Critical Governance Changes

In addition to a few of the authorised By-Law modifications associated to the Board of Directors listed under, Members unanimously authorised two motions to amend Hockey Canada’s Articles to state that the utmost variety of Directors of Hockey Canada shall be 13, and fixing the variety of elected Directors at 9 (9).

• Hockey Canada will transfer to a staggered time period Board construction. As a outcome, for the 2023 election of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors, the Members will elect 9 Directors as follows:
  • The Chair and the 2 candidates receiving the best variety of votes shall serve a three-year time period;
  • The three candidates receiving the following highest variety of votes shall serve a two-year time period;
  • The three candidates receiving the following highest variety of votes shall serve a one-year time period.
• In elections occurring after 2023, elected Directors will serve three-year phrases, moderately than the earlier two-year phrases.
• A Director can not run for election if doing so would trigger them to exceed 9 consecutive years of service, if elected.
• The Chair of the Board shall be appointed by the elected Directors moderately than being elected by Hockey Canada’s Members.
• The time period restrict for the Chair of the Board of Directors is now two (2) three (3)-year phrases.

As nicely, to align with the advice of Mr. Cromwell and the necessities of the Canada not-for-profit Corporations Act, monetary statements should now be authorised by the Hockey Canada Board of Directors, and never the Members.

In complete, the entire By-Law modifications have been unanimously authorised regarding the Hockey Canada Board of Directors, Financial Statements and Committees.

This marks important progress in our efforts to implement Mr. Cromwell’s suggestions, however we acknowledge that there’s nonetheless extra work to do and we proceed to discover potential amendments to Member voting rights and choices to create a larger voice for athletes inside the Hockey Canada construction, via a Task Team and the Governance Committee, respectively.

Spring Congress

The 2023 Hockey Canada Spring Congress befell this weekend in Québec City, because of our gracious hosts at Hockey Quebec. On behalf of Hockey Canada, I’d additionally prefer to thank outgoing Member Presidents Arnie Farrell of Hockey Nova Scotia and Jason Perrier of Hockey Northwestern Ontario, who’ve accomplished their respective phrases, for his or her great contributions to the game and our group.

While the Spring Congress is a crucial milestone on the calendar for Hockey Canada and our Members annually, the importance of this 12 months’s occasion was enhanced by two days of conferences that targeted on girls’s and ladies’ hockey.

Each of our Members was represented by delegates who lead girls’s and ladies’ programming inside their respective Member, and took part in workshops and classes led by Canadian Women & Sport and Hockey Canada employees.

I’d prefer to thank our Members for persevering with to prioritize the expansion of girls’s and ladies’ hockey, and for contributing to the significant discussions that befell all through the 2 days.

This weekend was the primary congress that our Board of Directors has attended since being elected practically six months in the past, and we’re already wanting ahead to the Summer Congress in September.

Leadership Renewal

The search committee that was established to recruit Hockey Canada’s subsequent president and chief govt officer continues to interview potential candidates for the place.

This position shall be vital to the way forward for Hockey Canada and hockey in Canada, and the committee is optimistic that it will likely be in a position to advocate a last candidate to the Board of Directors within the coming weeks.

2023 IIHF Annual Congress

Last month, Pat McLaughlin and I attended the 2023 IIHF Annual Congress in Tampere, Fin., the place we met with colleagues from the opposite IIHF Member National Associations forward of Canada’s thrilling gold medal victory on the 2023 IIHF World Championship.

Congratulations to Canada’s National Men’s Team on representing our nation with great pleasure all through the event, and for changing into world champions after 10 hard-fought video games.

One of probably the most impactful conferences that we had in Finland was with the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine, the place we reiterated Hockey Canada’s dedication to supporting the group and its athletes as finest that we are able to. More data shall be shared quickly about tangible steps that we’re taking to collaborate with the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine and help the way forward for hockey within the nation.

2023 World Para Hockey Championship

Congratulations to all of you who performed a task in Canada internet hosting the World Para Hockey Championship for the primary time, and to Canada’s National Para Hockey Team on successful the silver medal in Moose Jaw, Sask.

We have been impressed to look at the competing federations all through the event, and to see so many group members cheer on the athletes through the occasion.

Hosting a global occasion of any variety takes a major quantity of preparation on and off the ice, and to take action in just a few months is an unbelievable accomplishment in itself.

End of the 2022-23 Season

As the 2022-23 hockey season involves an finish, we acknowledge that our group has rather more work forward of us, nonetheless I’m happy on the progress that we now have made in collaboration with our Members, and we are going to proceed to work tirelessly to offer all contributors with a secure, welcoming and inclusive surroundings on and off the ice.

Thank you to everybody from coast to coast to coast who performs a task in delivering the game to Canadians, and on behalf of Hockey Canada, we hope you and your households have an excellent summer season.