'Everyone seems to think it will stop by itself': Hockey parents frustrated by sport's toxic culture

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.

As Hockey Canada grapples with public fallout over how its organization settled sexual assault claims in the past, some Canadians are questioning how anyone could trust hockey's national governing body and calling for action and change at all levels of the sport. 

"I'm not sure it's possible for women to trust an organization with that kind of history anymore," Beatrice van Dijk, a mother of four daughters who played hockey in Toronto, told Cross Country Checkup.

"I'm not sure it's possible for parents who care about young men being raised in a non-toxic, non-highly sexualized power environment to have trust in an institution that has enabled such behaviour."

Hockey Canada's controversy started in May, when the organization reached a settlement with a young woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted in 2018 by eight Canadian Hockey League players, including members of that year's World Junior team.

Since then, Sport Canada, a branch of the federal Department of Heritage, has frozen funding for Hockey Canada. Several sponsors, including Scotiabank and Tim Hortons, have paused or withdrawn sponsorships to the organization. 

Halifax police have also opened an investigation into an allegation of a separate group sexual assault in 2003, involving members of Canada's 2003 World Junior team.

Hockey Canada executives testifying before a House of Commons committee Wednesday said they've paid $8.9 million for sexual abuse settlements to 21 complainants since 1989 from the "National Equity Fund," which they said is generated by membership fees and investments.

Van Dijk, whose husband was a professional hockey player in Germany, said this shows steps are not being taken to hold people accountable.

"It's an embarrassing time to be a Canadian associated with hockey," she said. 

"I'm not sure why you would want to accept an invitation to participate in one of Hockey Canada's events, given that it's been tarnished with this history."

Van Dijk, who is 48 and now lives in New York state, says incidents like the ones Hockey Canada is currently dealing with are not new. 

"Everyone seems to think it will stop by itself, and nobody wants to talk about the particulars." 

Former Canadian Hockey League goalie Brock McGillis has firsthand experience with hockey's toxic culture.