Sponsors may force Hockey Canada to 'improve the culture' in its game

Now that this is about losing money, perhaps Hockey Canada will come clean and truly attempt to get to the bottom of an alleged gang rape four years ago. Only then will we see a true culture change

Members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team find themselves under a cloud of suspicion.

When Scotiabank announced it was pausing its sponsorship agreement with Hockey Canada in light of how the organization dealt with an alleged gang rape four years ago, its chief executive officer used very strong language in his open letter to Canada’s governing body for minor hockey. “We have made the decision to pause our sponsorship of Hockey Canada until we are confident the right steps are being taken to improve the culture within the sport – both on and off the ice,” Brian Porter said in the statement.

“…until we are confident the right steps are being taken to improve the culture within the sport – both on and off the ice.” Now, that’s an enormously tall order, one frankly that Hockey Canada will not be able to accomplish on its own. Because Hockey Canada is hardly the only culprit when it comes to the toxic masculinity and culture of silence that often governs this sport and those in it. Hockey Canada alone is not responsible for the sense of entitlement some of these young men feel, nor does it bear all of the blame for the way they are repeatedly told how special they are from a young age because they’re supremely talented at something and their parents have the financial wherewithal to help them fully exploit those talents.