The Secretary of State of the Sports of Canada says that the government is keeping Canada hockey under greater monitoring of the foreseeable future as a federal financing condition.
Adam Van Koeverden told CBC News that the National Government Body for Hockey for Canada’s hockey has advanced addressing its culture, but there is more work to do.
“It’s not just a cash verification exercise,” he said in an interview. “We are talking about a massive change in culture that requires transparency and responsibility and a lot of time.”
This monitoring will continue to be made by Sport Canada and the Van Koeverden office, he said.
The Federal Government arrested the Canada Hockey funds in 2022 on its handling of a high profile case. A woman known as EM reported that a group of world players in 2018 sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in London, Ontario. A judge recently found the Five non -guilty players.
The federal government says it will restore the financing of the Canada hockey after the controversy linked to its management of alleged claims of sexual aggression. But the government warns that this will not be a blank check and establishes expectations for the organization in the future.
The Canada hockey was under intense public scrutiny three years ago to silently pay an agreement. Hockey parents were outraged to know that their registration rates went to a reserve fund without their knowledge and used to pay millions of dollars in sexual abuse claims over the years. A parliamentary committee investigated, the sponsors arrested the financing and the head of Hockey Canada and its entire Board resigned.
The Government restored the Canada Hockey Hockey Financing in 2023, but came with attached ropes. The organization has had to submit quarterly reports to the federal government about its progress that address recommendations in three independent reports, including a Former Judge of the Supreme Court.
Canada Hockey confirmed CBC News that you have completed all recommendations in those reports. Sport Canada said it is reviewing that progress and, as of July, the Hockey Organization has implemented all the conditions that were part of its improved monitoring plan.
Canada Hockey completed all recommendations
Despite reaching that brand, Van Koeverden said there is no date in mind for when Ottawa will eliminate additional monitoring.
He wants to see “a sustained cultural change that Canadians demand,” he said.
“We have seen a good progress from Canada’s hockey in terms of leadership change, in terms of governance changes, in terms of their audits,” said Van Koeverden.
He pointed out the mandatory training for all staff, coaches and athletes who compete with the Canada team that is now in place that covers violence and sexual consent. He said that training “is only the minimum” and that it is necessary to change attitudes and behavior.
The courage of EM and others when presenting, said Van Koeverden, caused a national conversation about the necessary change not only in hockey, but in all sports.
‘Abuse is not endemic to male hockey’
In a statement after last week, Van Koeverden described The male hockey culture as “problematic.”
Asked by CBC News how I would describe the culture and what concerns it still has, Van Koeverden said that he does not believe that the problems he has identified are “endemic” of male hockey.
“I am concerned about chauvinism, sexism, the treatment of women as if they were objects or something that are achieved instead of an equal one,” he said. “I don’t think it’s exclusive to hockey, exclusive to sport.
“I think it is an unfortunate reality that exists in other places, in the workplace, in education and must be called, should be recognized and changed.”
He added that “abuse is not endemic to male hockey” and that if a national conversation about “how we should treat us between us begins with hockey, I think it is exclusively Canadian.”
‘You can’t simply mark boxes’
A fifth gas investigation in 2022 The Junior Hockey players found were the subjects of police investigations in at least 15 cases of alleged sexual assault groups since 1989, half of which emerged in the last decade. The former Junior Hockey players and those who study sport say that these incidents have emerged from a culture that has included the search for women as a team sport that can result in group sex.
Hockey Canada is on the defensive for accusations that some members of its world -winning world medal team in 2018 participated in a group sexual assault, and the organization did not do enough to hold the players responsible. The fifth farm examines national shame within the Canada game, and the disturbing story that suggests that this was not an isolated incident.
Laura Robinson, the author of Crossing the line: sexual violence and aggression in Canada’s national sportHe said he wants to see Canada Hockey under an improved monitoring by the federal government until after the winter Olympic Games in 2026.
He pointed out the recent Canada hockey ads on 18 men selected for roles. Canada hockey appointed a list of men to Training its Olympic and World Junior teams. He New general manager and members of The management group For the Canada Hockey Excellence program, they are also men.
“You can’t simply mark boxes and say we have women involved now,” he said.
Canada Hockey says ‘There is still more work’
The Excellence Program is based on volunteers that come from a group of employees of the Canadian Hockey League. The organization said that its managers and coaches selected to be volunteers have a “tremendous experience” that works with high -performance male athletes from 15 to 19 years.
He said Chelsea Geldenhuys has been promoted to senior hockey operations manager for the Excellence Program.
Hockey Canada said that as part of his effort to increase the number of women in training in Canada, he helped launch a new program to use athletes as coaches while playing university women’s hockey.
The Hockey Organization also sent CBC News a list of 17 changes that were made since 2022 to address the culture and security of hockey, including the achievement of gender equity in its board of directors, adopt a code of universal conduct to prevent abuse in sport and become one of the first organizations to be a complete signator
“While important progress has been achieved since 2022, there is still more work to be done and we will continue to be transparent and responsible to the Canadians as we promote systemic change within our national winter sport,” said Hockey Canada Cabinet Chief Jeremy Knight, in a statement.
Hockey Canada said that “it will continue to comply with all the requests for Sport Canada reports.”
