Hockey Canada posts new job to overhaul handling of maltreatment, harassment and abuse
CBC
Warning: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers
Hockey Canada is hiring a new "director of maltreatment, harassment and abuse" to improve safety within the organization following intense public scrutiny over its handling of sexual assault allegations.
The sport's national governing body posted the new job on Thursday and said it would include overseeing the introduction of an "independent and confidential complaint mechanism," according to the posting.
"Hockey Canada's goal is to create a sport culture and environment that is free from all forms of maltreatment and harm," the job posting said.
Hockey Canada says it's looking for someone to lead the development of a "multi-year" mistreatment strategy and lead the creation of a new reporting and tracking system to capture allegations of wrongdoing at all levels of hockey from grassroots to the national level.
The director will also be tasked with the creation of a new screening program to assess player's character for high-performance programs, according to the job posting.
The job posting is the latest effort by the organization to try and restore its credibility and the public's trust more than two months into its sexual assault allegations scandal.
Regional hockey associations have threatened to stop paying Hockey Canada dues over concerns, MPs are continuing to call on the hockey organization's leadership to resign and Canada's minister of sport wants a major overhaul of the board of directors.
The creation of a new job to handle mistreatment complaints is part of a commitment Hockey Canada made in July while announcing a plan to combat the organization's "toxic behaviour" both on and off the ice.
Hockey Canada released that plan before its executives appeared at a parliamentary committee, where they were grilled by MPs over how the organization reached financial settlements with complainants and used non-disclosure agreements in some cases to restrict complainants from speaking publicly.
The Hockey Canada controversy started after a woman filed a lawsuit in April alleging she was sexually assaulted in 2018 by eight unnamed Canadian Hockey League players including members of the World Junior team.
The hockey players allegedly brought golf clubs to the room to intimidate her, told her to shower after the sexual assault, and directed her to say she was sober while they filmed a consent video, according to a statement of claim that has not been proven in court.
The lawsuit accuses Hockey Canada of failing to address systemic abuse in its organization and condoning a "culture and environment that glorified the degradation and sexual exploitation of young women."
During the parliamentary committee last month, Hockey Canada revealed it has reached settlements and paid out $8.9 million to 21 other complainants of sexual abuse allegations since 1989 (not including the 2018 group sexual assault allegations).
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.
Allison Hill says she tries to make people’s experience at the Thunder Bay Food Bank “as pleasant as possible.”
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.