CNN
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Hockey Canada, the sport’s national governing body, announced drastic changes to the organization’s leadership on Tuesday as CEO Scott Smith will leave immediately and the board will also step down.
An interim management committee will be in place until a new board appoints a replacement CEO, Hockey Canada said in a statement.
The measures are taken in recognition of “the urgent need for new leadership and new perspectives,” read the statement from Hockey Canada. “In accordance with Hockey Canada bylaws, the Board will ask its members to select a new slate of directors no later than the next virtual election scheduled for December 17, 2022.”
The upheaval comes amid several scandals, including an ongoing investigation into Hockey Canada’s inaction following the alleged sexual assault of a woman in London, Ont., by members of Canada’s world junior team in 2018.
Canadian broadcaster TSN reported in May that the governing body had settled a lawsuit brought by the woman against Hockey Canada, the players and the Canadian Hockey League. Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper later reported that the organization had used money from the organization’s National Equity Fund, which is funded in part by player registration fees, to settle abuse claims.
In June, the Canadian government announced it was freezing federal public funding for Hockey Canada until the organization submitted full results of the initial investigation and plans to implement changes within Hockey. Canada. Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge said: “It’s about changing a deeply rooted culture, it’s not just about band-aid solutions.
The following month, the governing body admitted that the handling of the situation was “not perfect” and that it had not done enough after the alleged sexual assault in 2018.
“We know you’re angry and disappointed with Hockey Canada – rightly so,” the organization wrote in an open letter this summer. “We know we haven’t done enough to respond to the actions of some members of the 2018 Junior National Team or to end the culture of toxic behavior in our sport. For this, we apologize unreservedly.
A week later, Hockey Canada said it would conduct a full governance review overseen by an independent third party. The organization also announced that it would no longer use the National Equity Fund to settle sexual assault claims.
The current Hockey Canada board will continue to fulfill its fiduciary duties until the new board is elected, according to Tuesday’s release.
