Neos MP Peter Julian is calling on the federal government to “thoroughly review” Hockey Canada’s finances, which date back to 2016.
The request, made in a letter to Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge on Tuesday, concerns spending of thousands of dollars allocated to the National Sports Board, including upscale dinners, luxurious hotel suites and championship rings for board members.
As a member of the House of Commons Heritage Committee investigating the federation since an explosive assertion of venereal assault and a subsequent smothered payment were uncovered in the spring, Julian wrote that he had also raised the matter with Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith in another letter.
Julian told the Canadian press last month that he had received information about the benefits — including worth of meals—and luxurious accommodations from an anonymous former board member.
In a statement provided to the CP at the time, Hockey Canada said that the council’s expenses “are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they are appropriate.”
St-Onge oversees Sport Canada and Hockey Canada and tells Julian: “It is your responsibility to ensure that Hockey Canada uses government funds and registration fees for hockey parents in a responsible and transparent manner.”
The British Columbia parliamentarian added in his letter that the recent revelations ” show that Hockey Canada has not been transparent and accountable to the public and especially to hockey parents.”
Hockey Canada has come under scrutiny since TSN first reported an undisclosed settlement to a woman who claimed to have been venereally assaulted by eight players, including members of the 2018 World junior team, at a gala in London, Ontario.
The plaintiff demanded damages in the amount of million. None of the assertion have been examined in court.
St-Onge ordered a judicial review of Hockey Canada to ensure that no public funds were used as part of the settlement.
Hockey Canada executives told the Heritage Committee in July that they used the organization’s national action fund, which uses membership dues from minor hockey members, to raise million for uninsured claims in nine settlements related to venereal assault or mis-word since 1989.
This figure did not include the alleged incident in London.
Hockey Canada also announced that there was an investigation into alleged venereal assaults involving members of the country’s 2003 World Junior Championships.
The association’s current board said last month it was supporting Smith, who is also chairman, and his leadership team despite loud calls for a change at the top.
This prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to declare that the management of Hockey Canada had lost the trust of the federal government and the country as a whole.
The association’s response to the scandal included the publication of an action plan and a third-party review of its governance, but so far the only change in leadership has been the resignation of the chairman of the board, Michael Brind ‘Amour, whose term was scheduled to end in November.
He resigned in August. 6 and was temporarily replaced by Andrea Skinner three days after. Skinner will then come out in August. 29 Statement that Smith supports.
Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, chairwoman of the Standing Committee on Women, told the Canadian press last week that she believes that everything Hockey Canada is doing right now is related to optics.
