`IT'S TIME FOR THEM TO GO'

PM, sponsors frost Hockey Canada

As the embattled organization lost more major sponsors Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that if Hockey Canada doesn't change its leadership, others may have to come in and create a “Canada Hockey.”

“The fact that they don't understand that people have completely lost confidence in what they're doing extends the hurt. We don't want to see Hockey Canada disappear completely, we can simply replace the people and the culture,” Trudeau told reporters Thursday morning.

“But eventually, we're going to have to say OK, we're going to create Canada Hockey instead and they will take charge of our youth,” he continued. “At one point, people are going to wake up. I don't know what else we can say except that we've lost confidence in Hockey Canada and it's time for them to go.”

He later clarified that the government was not actually considering creating “Canada Hockey.”

Trudeau said yesterday that he was “baffled” that Hockey Canada leadership hasn't changed as it grapples with a barrage of criticism regarding how it has handled sexual assault allegations within the organization for decades.

Canadian Tire is the latest major Hockey Canada sponsor to have withdrawn their confidence — and financial support — of the organization's leadership.

In a statement, Canadian Tire Corp. senior vice-president of communications Jane Shaw said it was ending its partnership with Hockey Canada and redirecting the funds to groups that focus on fighting bullying, abuse and discrimination, such as The Respect Group corporation.

“In our view, Hockey Canada continues to resist meaningful change and we can no longer confidently move forward together. CTC is proud of our commitment to sport and will continue to invest in our beloved national game by redirecting support to hockey-related organizations that better align with our values,” Shaw said in a statement.

Canadian Tire is the fourth major Hockey Canada partner to withdraw its support after Tim Hortons, Telus and Scotiabank announced they were doing so on Wednesday.

The withdrawals and Trudeau's comments come after a disastrous appearance by Hockey Canada's interim chair of the board of directors, Andrea Skinner, in front of a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Skinner stunned MPS of all parties by saying that the board of Hockey Canada, an organization that paid out nearly $9 million to 21 complainants of sexual misconduct since 1989, has an “excellent reputation” and that it should not be scapegoated as a “centrepiece for toxic culture.”

She said that the board had full confidence in its senior leadership, namely president Scott Smith, and graded him “A” for his handling of the sexual misconduct issue.

She also said that the game of hockey in Canada would suffer if the organization's senior leadership was changed.

“I think that there is a significant risk to the organization that all of the board resigns and all of senior leadership is no longer there. I think that will be very impactful in a negative way to our boys and girls who are playing hockey. Will the lights stay on on the rink? I don't know,” she told MPS.

As corporate partners pulled money for the men's program this week, a pair of powerful provincial organizations also spoke out against Hockey Canada.

The day after her hearing, both Hockey Quebec and the Ontario Hockey Federation withdrew their support of the national organization.

On Thursday, Canada's Olympic Committee also questioned Hockey Canada's management.

“It is a priority of the Canadian Olympic Committee to help build a safe, inclusive and barrier-free sport system that reflects Olympic values both on and off the field of play, and we condemn maltreatment of any kind,” said David Shoemaker, CEO and Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee, in a statement.

“While we don't have direct knowledge of the incidents and how they were managed, it has become abundantly clear that confidence in the leadership of Hockey Canada has reached a point of being irreparable. It is a very unfortunate situation and we encourage the leadership of Hockey Canada to dedicate their full attention to urgently doing whatever it takes to regain the trust of everyone,” Shoemaker said.

“Hockey Canada's leaders are losing support,” Minister of Sport Pascale St-onge said Thursday on Parliament Hill. “They no longer have the support of their sponsors, of Canadian families that are sending their kids to play hockey. They're also losing support from their own members.

“I hope that they understand the message and leave before they burn it to the ground.”

St-onge added that it would be up to the country's 13 provincial and territorial bodies to decide what happens with Hockey Canada.

“We're going to support whatever they decide,” she said.

The federal government paused funding to Hockey Canada in the spring after news broke it had quickly and quietly settled a $3.55-million lawsuit with a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight players — including members of the country's world junior team — after a 2018 gala in London, Ont.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

Among other revelations that followed was that Hockey Canada drew on a fund partly maintained by minor hockey registration fees to pay for uninsured liabilities, including sexual abuse claims. Halifax police were also subsequently asked to investigate an alleged sexual assault by members of the 2003 junior men's team.

Hockey Canada officials have been called to testify on Parliament Hill three times since the middle of June.