Players who don’t participate in Hockey Canada’s sexual assault investigation will be banned: investigator

An independent investigator hired by Hockey Canada to investigate an alleged gang sexual assault says players who don’t participate in her investigation will be banned from Hockey Canada for life — and many players she hasn’t interviewed fear that Hockey Canada and some politicians have prejudiced them.

Danielle Robitaille, partner at law firm Henein Hutchison LLP, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that Hockey Canada has informed her that players who do not participate in the reopened investigation will be banned from Hockey Canada. and will be publicly named.

In May 2022, Hockey Canada settled a $3.55 million lawsuit filed in April by a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by eight former Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players following a the Hockey Canada Foundation in London, Ontario. in June 2018.

The allegations have not been proven in court. The identities of the alleged players involved and the alleged victim are not known to the public.

In his testimony, Robitaille said Hockey Canada contacted his company shortly after the alleged assault and gave it a mandate to find out the truth about what happened and make policy recommendations to Hockey Canada.

But the third-party survey was unable to interview all of the 2018 World Junior Hockey Team players who attended the event over the following months. She therefore presented a preliminary report and recommendations to Hockey Canada in September 2018. The investigation ultimately ended with an agreement between Henein Hutchison and Hockey Canada that it could be reopened at any time.

Meanwhile, the case has sparked an unprecedented scrutiny of hockey culture and Hockey Canada as an organization. Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have criticized Hockey Canada since the matter became public in May.

In his testimony, Robitaille acknowledged the public anger the case sparked.

“I understand it’s very frustrating for Canadians that we don’t have a result yet,” Robitaille told the committee.

“My investigation takes time, but justice and fairness sometimes take time.”

Robitaille provided several new details about the investigation to members of the committee. While Hockey Canada leaders has already told the committee While most players at the London event did not participate in the initial survey, Robitaille said 10 out of 19 gave interviews.

She said the nine people who had opted out had informed her through their lawyers that they would not be participating until the London Police Service concluded their criminal investigation into the incident, which began in July 2018. London police closed their investigation without charge in February 2019.

Robitaille said she still could not interview the players after that time because the alleged victim said through her lawyer that she would not provide a statement reiterating her version of what happened in June. 2018 in the survey.

Robitaille said without that statement she was “not ready” to arrange interviews with the players and the investigation lay dormant.

“I was not prepared to interview these players without the plaintiff’s version of events,” Robitaille told the committee.

“For procedural reasons, I could not interview the players without giving them reasonable notice of what they were charged with.”

Robitaille said earlier this month she was advised that the complainant would be providing a statement. Investigators now have the statement and the investigation is active again.

Officers of Hockey Canada told the committee that while players were encouraged to participate in the initial stage of third-party investigation, they were not required to do so.

But Robitaille said the organization has now told him players who don’t participate will be banned from Hockey Canada and the ban will be made public.

Robitaille said the investigation is ongoing.

Players worry politicians, Hockey Canada has ‘prejudiced’ them

Robitaille added that legal counsel for eight of the nine players she did not speak with told her the players were concerned some politicians and Hockey Canada officials had already decided they were guilty.

“They have expressed concerns about my investigation, particularly with respect to comments made by politicians and members of Hockey Canada. They fear the issue has been biased,” she said.

“I am trying to address these concerns and allay these concerns, and hope that I will receive voluntary compliance with my investigation.”

London Police announced last week that they will reopen their investigation into the alleged assault.

Hockey Canada announced last week that it no longer use a fund fed by membership dues to resolve sexual assault complaints.

The organization announced Monday that he will commit to a number of other changes, including improved training focusing on masculinity, consent and toxic behaviors and a universal code of conduct to prevent and combat abuse in sport.

Members of the 2003 Canadian junior team have also faced a charge of gang sexual assault since 2003.

Sport Canada was aware of the allegations in 2018

Michel Ruest, Sport Canada’s senior director, told the committee that the federal organization was made aware of the alleged sexual assault in 2018 but did not follow up with Hockey Canada at the time.

Appearing before the Canadian Heritage committee on Tuesday, Ruest also told MPs that Sport Canada, an arm of Canadian Heritage, had not informed the office of then-sports minister Kent Hehr of the allegations.

St-Onge said she was unaware of the allegations until this year.

Several MPs have asked Ruest why federal funding for Hockey Canada was not cut until June of this year and why there was no follow-up to the case.

“So there was this allegation, you were made aware of it on June 26 (2018), and for four years not once did you or your organization follow up with Hockey Canada about these allegations. ?” Tory MP John Nater asked Ruest.

Ruest responded that Sport Canada is awaiting the outcome of Hockey Canada’s third-party investigation and the London Police Service’s criminal investigation.

Canadian Heritage Deputy Minister Isabelle Mondou, who also appeared before the committee on Tuesday, said she did not consider the delay unusual.

“What we knew at Sport Canada was that there was an ongoing police investigation, and as you know, sometimes police investigations can take years,” Mondou told the committee.

“It wasn’t necessarily surprising to us that the investigation was still ongoing. What surprised us was that we hadn’t had enough updates.”

NDP MP Peter Julian asked why Sport Canada has not put in place measures to verify whether sports organizations are following anti-harassment measures.

“I think Canadians have lost confidence,” Julian said.

“They’ve lost faith in Hockey Canada, they’ve lost faith in Sport Canada, because we don’t see the kind of careful monitoring that actually means these policies put in place aren’t just vague words.”