No time like the present for Hockey Canada to be transparent and accountable
The organization has laid out its plans for change in the Action Plan it unveiled Monday. But changing the 'code of silence' begins this week when Hockey Canada faces questions from parliamentarians
Two days before it is scheduled to appear before the Canadian Heritage standing committee looking into its handling of an alleged gang rape involving the 2018 Canadian World Junior Team four years ago, Hockey Canada released an action plan to, “address systemic issues in hockey.”
Funny how that timing has worked out, isn’t it? Hockey Canada’s pattern of being reactive instead of proactive on this file continues, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. There’s no time like when your organization is involved in not one, but two, alleged gang rapes to take meaningful steps to prevent them from happening again.
Titled Action Plan: Shatter the Code of Silence and Eliminate Toxic Behaviour in and Around Canada’s Game, the 19-page document prescribes heavy doses of transparency and accountability, two principles that did not guide much of how Hockey Canada did anything prior to the country finding out that it paid a multi-million dollar settlement to the alleged victim of the 2018 incident without knowing which players were allegedly involved or the underlying facts of the claim. More threads were pulled and we later learned that the organization has something called the National Equity Fund, which has millions of dollars stashed away to pay uninsured liabilities, including sexual assault claims.
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