Sexual assault prevention training required for athletes, coaches and staff at 2023 world juniors
CBC
The Nova Scotia government says it will require every person representing Hockey Canada at the upcoming 2023 World Junior Championship to sign an anti-harassment policy and take "sexual assault and harassment prevention" training.
The requirement covers Hockey Canada athletes, coaches and staff and comes after months of criticism over how Hockey Canada has handled allegations of sexual assault.
Management with the International Ice Hockey Federation will also have to take training, and the event, which runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Halifax and Moncton, will have "heightened" security.
The requirements are part of a contribution agreement with Hockey Canada that will see the province provide $2 million to host the tournament. Records obtained by CBC News through access to information show the agreement has been in the works for months, but the government says it still hasn't been finalized.
A lawyer and top senior staffer to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston called for that agreement to include language around how to handle claims of sexual abuse and harassment, the records show.
"Ideally, we want to ensure there are provisions in the contract that accommodate for any issues arising with claims of sexual assault/harassment," Nicole LaFosse Parker, Houston's chief of staff and general counsel, wrote in an email on July 28.
One day before that email was sent, top Hockey Canada executives told a House of Commons committee that the organization has paid out $8.9 million in sexual abuse settlements since 1989.
And five days before that, TSN reported that the Halifax Regional Police opened a criminal investigation into an allegation that members of the 2003 Canadian World Junior team were involved in a group sexual assault during the tournament, which was held in Halifax.
In addition to the police investigation, Hockey Canada says it appointed a third-party independent investigator to look into the 2003 allegations, and that investigation is still going on.
Kristina Fifield is a trauma therapist and the provincial community co-ordinator at Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax.
She said the province's requirements are important measures, but she still has questions.
"It's one piece of the measures that are necessary here, because all of those measures are still not addressing the accountability if there's sexualized violence that is taking place, what that's going to look like if this does happen at the tournament?" Fifield said.
"How do we create safe spaces, but also how [are] acts of violence going to be addressed if there [are] situations?"
The New Brunswick government is still finalizing details of its agreement with Hockey Canada, according to a spokesperson.
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