Michel Ruest, senior director of Sport Canada, says the federal organization was made aware of an alleged sexual assault involving members of Team Canada’s world junior hockey team in late June 2018, but did not follow up with Hockey Canada at the time. In questioning before a House of Commons committee Tuesday, Rouest also told MPs that Sport Canada, an arm of Canadian Heritage, did not inform then-Sports Minister Kent Hare’s office of the allegations. Current Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge said she was unaware of the allegations until this year. Sport Canada officials have been asked to testify as the Commons’ legacy committee investigates what happened between June 2018, when Hockey Canada, the national governing body, learned of the allegations and May of this year, when news broke that it facilitated a lawsuit with the plaintiff. Several MPs questioned them as to why Hockey Canada’s funding was not cut before June of this year and why the case was not pursued. The woman at the center of the complaint alleges she was sexually assaulted in an incident involving eight hockey players, including some members of the 2018 world junior team, after a Hockey Canada gala in London, Ont. A lawyer from the company conducting a third-party investigation into the allegations told MPs on the committee that she was unable to answer all of their questions. Danielle Robitaille, a partner at Henein Hutchison LLP, said Hockey Canada told her that some information is protected by attorney-client privilege and that some questions could undermine the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Robitaille said Hockey Canada contacted her company after the alleged assault in June 2018 and that the initial investigation was closed because the complainant did not file a statement. The complainant then filed suit this spring. Robitaille said the complainant had now given her “detailed version of events”, enabling investigators to interview nine more players who were at the event and had declined to be interviewed in 2018. Hockey Canada has been under intense scrutiny since news of its settlement in response to the whistleblower’s lawsuit first broke in May, and it increased as another allegation about the 2003 team surfaced last week. Robitaille said she was contacted in 2018 by Glen McCurdie, Hockey Canada’s former vice-president of insurance and risk management, and advised to contact the London Police Service. She said she was then instructed to conduct an independent investigation and interviewed 10 of the 19 players present at the event. Robitaille said the remaining nine players declined to be interviewed because of an ongoing police investigation at the time and decided she should not interview them until she received the complainant’s version of events. When Robitaille learned through the complainant’s lawyer that she planned to participate, she contacted Hockey Canada and requested an order to reopen the investigation. “I am in contact with the players’ lawyer and expect to schedule interviews shortly,” he told the Commons committee. “I am well equipped to continue this research.” Hockey Canada said player participation is mandatory. “I’m hoping to get voluntary compliance with my research,” Robitaille said, but added that Hockey Canada has given her an extra tool because anyone who doesn’t take part will be shut out of their activities and programs. Those bans will be made public, Robitaille said. London police have reopened their investigation, while the NHL and NHL Players’ Association are also investigating. The complainant’s suit sought just over $3.5 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players. Hockey Canada quickly settled the case for an undisclosed amount. Details of the settlement, including the identities of the complainant and the men involved, have not been released. During a June panel hearing, Hockey Canada officials said they did not know what happened the night of the alleged assault and did not know the identities of the players involved. Robitaille did not say whether the eight players allegedly involved in the sexual assault were among the nine who did not participate in the 2018 investigation, but told the committee there were two reasons she felt she could not continue with her interviews. Robitaille said first, she felt she could not complete her search for the truth without hearing from the complainant. Second, he said, “As a matter of due process I could not interview players without giving them fair notice of what was being alleged against them.” Some men who were part of that group have publicly said they were not involved in the alleged attack and that they were involved in the investigations. Robitaille said that because Hockey Canada did not give her permission to waive the attorney-client privilege, she was unable to answer some of the committee’s questions. That included a question from NDP MP Peter Julian about whether Team Canada staff and coaches were involved in the investigation. The committee chair instructed her to waive the privilege, and Robitaille said seven coaches and staff were involved, though she wasn’t sure how many of them were coaches. She also could not tell the committee what her company’s interim report contained, other than that it informed Hockey Canada of policy issues that could be addressed. He said one of the recommendations involved alcohol. Hockey Canada on Monday released a plan to rid the sport of a “toxic culture,” including mandatory chaperones for underage athletes at Hockey Canada events to enforce curfews and ensure no alcohol is consumed. Hockey Canada also said it will no longer host “open bar” events. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 26, 2022.
