Junior hockey players who may have been involved in an alleged sexual assault at a Hockey Canada event in 2018 were not required to cooperate in an investigation into the matter, the organization’s top executives told MPs Monday.
Outgoing CEO Tom Renney and president and COO Scott Smith, who will soon be replacing Renney as CEO, told a House of Commons committee that instead players were “encouraged” to cooperate.
Because of that, the pair could not definitively say how many players participated, and gave wildly different answers when pressed by lawmakers.
“I don’t know for sure, but because of the incomplete (investigation) report, there is not much more we have to offer in terms of information along those lines,” Renney said, after suggesting only four to six players spoke to investigators.
“I believe the number is larger than that, I just don’t have that at my fingertips,” Smith added, after Renney referred to him for more “definition” to his answer. “But it definitely wasn’t four to six.”
The executives were called to testify after TSN reported Hockey Canada had settled a lawsuit with a woman who accused eight Canadian Hockey League players, including members of the 2018 national junior team that won world junior gold that year, of sexual assault following a Hockey Canada Foundation gala in London, Ont., in June of 2018.
According to the statement of claim, the woman claimed she was repeatedly assaulted while intoxicated in a hotel room.
She filed a $3.55-million lawsuit against Hockey Canada, the CHL and the unnamed players. The lawsuit was settled, but no details of the settlement have been released. The allegations against the players were never proven in court.
The Canadian Heritage committee was tasked in part to ensure no taxpayer money was used in the…
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