Hockey Canada grilled by parliamentarians over alleged sexual assault, settlement

Hockey Canada executives were under fire Monday as parliamentarians grilled the national sport organization over its handling of an alleged sexual assault four years ago that resulted in a settled lawsuit last month.

Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney and president Scott Smith were among the witnesses called to testify before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in Ottawa.

Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League settled the lawsuit in May after a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by eight members of the country’s 2018 world junior hockey team in June of that year.

The plaintiff, identified as “E.M.” in court records, claimed she was repeatedly assaulted while intoxicated in a London, Ont., hotel room after a Hockey Canada event. The woman, now 24, was seeking $3.55 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the CHL and the unnamed players.

Smith, who is set to take over for Renney as CEO on July 1, told the committee that members of the country’s gold-medal winning world junior team were “strongly encouraged” to speak with third-party investigators hired by Hockey Canada.

It was not, however, made mandatory.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2022.