Changes coming to Hockey Canada

After months and months of criticism and only one resignation since the Hockey Canada sexual assault case broke, another employee has resigned. Over the weekend, interim chair on the Board of Directors, Andrea Skinner, decided to remove herself from the organization.

Skinner stepping down is a somewhat surprising turn of events considering just last week, she said in front of Parliament that the board “does not share the view that Hockey Canada should be making more leadership changes at this time.”

The interim board chair had shared last week that she believed Hockey Canada was being scapegoated for the scandal and said that toxic behavior “exists through society.” How Skinner believes that sexual assault is simply “toxic behavior” and not criminal behavior considering her trade as a lawyer is surprising.

It appears as though Skinner’s moral compass is either finally pointing north or she is no longer able to handle the criticism surrounding her defense of an organization that does not seem to take sexual assault seriously. In a statement she said, it is “clear to me from recent events that it no longer makes sense for me to continue to volunteer my time as Interim Chair or as a Director of the organization”.

The only other member of the Board of Directors who removed himself from office was Michael Brind’Amour, whose position Skinner was acting as temporary chair. In addition to Brind’Amour removing himself from Hockey Canada, Tim Hortons and Scotiabank, two of the organization’s biggest sponsors, have also separated themselves by pulling financial support.

Hockey Québec and Hockey Nova Scotia will also no longer be sending money to Hockey Canada along with Nike which has withdrawn their sponsorship as well.

Hockey Canada has been under fire since June when it was revealed that the organization paid a settlement of CAD 3.55 million (£2.2 million/$2.7 million/€2.7 million) to a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by multiple members of Canada’s junior national team in 2018. The organization was supposed to implement a six pillar action plan regarding the reporting and behavior of players and staff - changes that have not yet been visible.

With so much bad press surrounding Hockey Canada and funds diminishing quickly, the future of the program is uncertain unless more leadership changes are made quickly and an action plan implemented swiftly.