:
Good morning, everyone.
I call the meeting to order.
Welcome to the 86th meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation.
[English]
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of Thursday, June 23, 2022. Therefore, for those who are online, if you look at the bottom of your screen, you'll see something that looks like a globe. It's your interpretation prompt. If you press it you can get interpretation in English or French, as you require.
Also, please remember that while public health authorities and the Board of Internal Economy no longer require mask wearing indoors or in the precinct, it is prudent to think about wearing a mask to protect against respiratory disease and, if I may say, as you walk out, wearing one protects you against the pollution outside.
I want to take this opportunity to remind all participants that you cannot take pictures of your screen. The committee's proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.
You should not speak. Your mike should be on mute during the procession. When I call your name, you may unmute and speak—only if your name is called and you are recognized by the chair. Questions and comments should come through the chair.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, the committee is meeting to continue its study on safe sport in Canada.
Today we have three sets of witnesses. As individuals we have Kim Taylor, player and family ice hockey advocate; Lukas Walter; and Thomas Gobeil, health coach. They will be sharing a five-minute opening statement. I thought you should know that. From Boxing Canada, we have Christopher Lindsay, executive director. From Québec contre les violences sexuelles, we have Mélanie Lemay, co-founder.
We will begin with Ms. Taylor.
You may now proceed with your five-minute opening—
Ms. Taylor, you may now begin with your five-minute opening statement.
I give everyone a shout-out, and I mean it. It's a shout-out, not a piece of paper. When they have 30 seconds left, I'll say, “You have 30 seconds left.” You can stop and put your thoughts together.
I'm sorry if my speaking is hampered. I have asthma and the pollution is causing some breathing problems for me. I'm sorry about that.
Ms. Taylor, you may begin, please, for five minutes.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair and honourable committee, for asking me to speak with you all today in regard to abuse in sport.
My name is Kim Taylor. I'm an American citizen and the mother of a former WHL player. My son's hockey had advanced to a level where he was being given many opportunities and choices about where he would play the following season. Ultimately he decided he really wanted to play in Canada, where hockey means everything to Canadians. He felt that would be a good home for him. He felt this would give him the best opportunity for his development and a fast track to the opportunity to play in the NHL. Few make that final jump to the NHL, and that dream didn't come true for my son. We hoped, but we were realistic and had always talked about a backup plan.
What we didn't anticipate was that the dream would be replaced with a nightmare. We didn't expect him to come home with mental health issues. As a parent, I trusted the WHL to live up to its promises and to take our teenage son under its wing and develop him not only as a hockey player but as an upstanding young man and citizen, as they promised. However, we quickly learned that once our teenager signed his player contract, the league owned him and indoctrinated him into their hockey culture. The clear message sent to players is “all for one, one for all.” What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. The culture of silence is real and it exists, not only with the players but also for their families. You don't complain and you don't tell what goes on behind closed doors. If you do, they will publicly make an example out of you. They do so as a means of intimidating other players for speaking out. Even years after leaving the CHL, players still find it difficult to go on record about their abuse. My son's abuse happened a decade ago. We still suffer pain and live with that. It took us a long time to come out and speak about it because of fear of retribution. It's hard.
The prime example of the culture of silence is that after the league was informed of my son's abuse, following my testimony in the Oregon State Senate hearings, the CHL commissioned their own independent investigation. Even after admitting fault with the way they handled my son, they never called to apologize. They never let us see the private investigation report or let us know what actions were taken by the CHL to ensure that this type of treatment wouldn't happen to other players.
I have many issues with the CHL business model but I know this is not your mandate. However, it is your mandate to provide protections for workers and athletes, not only for Canadians but for import players like my son. Canada is a global leader in hockey development. That is one of the reasons I entrusted my son into the Canadian hockey system, yet under the current policies of OSIC, CHL players have no additional protection. To make matters worse, following the Portland hearings and just before the Quebec National Assembly hearings on employment standards law changes, the CHL attempted to silence players from speaking and threatened to sue them for libel.
Clearly, through these hearings, the committee has recognized that systemic problems exist within the Canadian Hockey League. It's obvious that the Canadian Hockey League cannot police themselves. It's also clear that the CHL falls into a category that doesn't require them to be accountable to anyone—not Hockey Canada or federal or provincial governments, yet they seek amateur status under the Canadian government system for financial gain. They are not affiliated with a union or a players association.
Canadians are looking for leadership with respect to how this committee is going to handle these incidents. You also have the eyes of the world looking at the outcome.
I often wonder whether, if there had been provincial or federal regulations in place or a true third party association for players, that would have prevented the maltreatment of my son. We still need to have a federal inquiry about abuse in sports. Parents once again need reassurance that, if they send their children to play in the CHL, they will be protected.
Thank you for your time.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am Lukas Walter from Langley, B.C., a former WHL and QMJHL player. I played three years in the CHL in both Canada and the U.S.A.
I come here today from B.C. to address the committee on the very important issue of Canadian hockey players' rights. I wish to share my story with this body to provide you with information that will help make hockey fairer and safer for players in the future.
During my experience in the CHL, I witnessed numerous issues that might not have occurred if there had been a third party resource that players could have had access to in times of trouble or a mental health crisis. If you would like examples, I can give you some. You can inquire.
During my time in the CHL, I was exploited financially by teams. I provided my service, which I was paid for. Since then, I have become a players' advocate for wage and hour. I am a plaintiff in the class action for wage and hour. I've stood up for players during my career on the ice and have been rewarded with praise and benefits in the form of monetary awards.
I played three years within the CHL and was entitled to three years of scholarship. When I attempted to obtain my education scholarship, I was informed by the league that it had expired because I did not use it within the first year of leaving the league. I was not aware of this. This is a prime example of why there needs to be a third party to protect players' rights and to hold the league accountable for better communication.
I now want to make the league a safer place with better working conditions, a place that is more enjoyable for the players, with a new culture that will allow players to speak out with no repercussions. I feel that a third party is needed to oversee the league and the business model, while making sure players' rights, education and safety are protected. We ask this body and the to declare CHL players employees.
We are also here today to break the trend of players not speaking out.
Thank you for your time.
:
Madam Chair and honourable committee, my name is Thomas Gobeil. I want to thank you for allowing me to attend today's hearing and to share with you all some of the issues I witnessed and experienced first-hand during my time in the Canadian Hockey League.
I played QMJHL for three years, and I'd like to share with you a little bit about my last season. I had just come from my first NHL experience with the Anaheim Ducks. I had a good beginning of the season individually, but as a team we were struggling.
After a few losses, our coach decided he wasn't happy, and he decided to put us through a discipline bag skate. Towards the end of the skate, he came up with a rather weird drill in which the forwards and the defencemen would compete. The forwards were to pass the puck at the blue line to the defencemen, and the forwards were to go up and try to block the shots the defencemen were attempting to bring to the net.
I ended up with a puck to the face. When it happened, I also drove myself to the hospital. I got evaluated and I was told that I had a double jaw fracture. I drove to the pharmacy to get medicine, and I had to head home for recovery.
When I came back from my injury, I learned that the team, which was supposed to have warned my teachers about my incapacity to attend my classes.... Actually, I learned that I had failed all my exams, so I ended up quitting school. The emotional turmoil and the anger I felt coming back had me quit the team I was playing for. I ended up playing for the BCHL, but it was really hard to get a release because the team owned my rights as a player, and they were trying to sell me.
I have a question from my time in the BCHL. Why is it that I lost my eligibility to go play college hockey if the CHL players aren't considered professional athletes or employees?
As I have shared with you, CHL players are required to be devoted and to sacrifice their bodies to help their team win. These are the conditions CHL players work under. This is why the players in the CHL need a third party to represent the players to make sure these issues don't happen again.
I recommend that this committee evaluate the CHL and recognize the players as federal employees so that they can have additional protection. This would then entitle CHL players to be federal employees under the federal labour code.
Thank you for your time.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair, for the invitation to appear before the committee and contribute to the important mission of providing a safe and abuse-free sport system to Canadians.
Boxing Canada is the national governing body for the sport of Olympic-style boxing. Our goal is to promote, organize and coordinate the advancement of its members of all levels and ages. Our mission is for Canada to become a world-leading boxing nation. We promote, encourage and develop lifelong participation and the highest proficiency in the pursuit of excellence amongst our members.
The protection of physical and psychological safety of all of Boxing Canada’s participants is critical and foundational. Our programming ranges from physical literacy programs for children to national teams proudly winning medals on the world stage to active-for-life participants who coach, officiate and still work the bag for fitness.
The culture of boxing is inherently inclusive. From our esteemed Olympians to our fitness-only programs, everyone is welcome. Boxing gyms across our country cater to every possible demographic group, and Boxing Canada proudly runs programs regardless of gender, income or cultural background. Providing safe spaces for young people to develop confidence, learn self-discipline and meet their individual fitness goals is inherent to our success.
To be completely clear, boxing involves hitting our opponents and, as our athletes remind me, taking a few punches from time to time. Needless to say, boxing has a robust and rigorous series of concussion screening and medical checks. We are proud of the protocols put in place by our officials and coaches to protect the long-term health of our participants.
In recent years, however, those protocols and polices have been expanded to meet a holistic understanding of health. Boxing Canada has adopted, reviewed and reinforced policies and practices to best protect all of our participants.
This has led Boxing Canada to adopt and enact policies that provide structure and accountability for our participants and to our funding partners. These include the adoption of third party reporting; compliance with the abuse-free sport program; a screening policy for our participants; a whistle-blower policy to encourage participants to speak up about potential issues; a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy to check that we are aware of possible barriers to participation; and a gender equity policy to ensure that representation is present at all levels of our organization.
To help us gauge blind spots in our self-evaluation, we have strengthened our athlete representation and engaged ITP in an independent cultural review. Boxing Canada was in the first cohort of sports to go through the cultural assessment and audit tool available through Own The Podium. Our experience with self-reflection has been difficult, profound, but ultimately positive.
No organization, including Boxing Canada, is perfect. Some participants have had negative experiences in our programs. All sport leaders bear responsibility for the situations that have surfaced in our sport. We are committed to preventing these situations in the future.
As a new leader in our NSO, I am personally committed to having an environment that protects the physical and psychological health and safety of every one of our participants. However, efforts to protect our members will never be complete. Measuring outcomes, incorporating feedback from our participants and evolving the standards of practice are a responsibility that boxing humbly and gratefully accepts.
The foundation upon which boxing will fulfill our mission, vision and goals is safe sport.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My name is Mélanie Lemay. I'm a Ph.D. student in sociology and co-founder of Québec contre les violences sexuelles.
When it comes to hockey and football, for much of my youth and professional life, I have witnessed the consequences of toxic culture in sport. Over the years, a number of men have confided to me that they were traumatized by what was done to them when they were young during hazing activities, and by what they had to do to others for fear of what would happen to them if they refused.
I'm going to describe indoctrination that starts very early on. Young people age 10 to 12 had hardcore pornography and group masturbation sessions organized for them. In the classroom, certain players were challenged to snap little girls' bra straps, rub up against them or slap their behinds, in addition to masturbating under their desks or on the bus. I heard about acts of bestiality involving a 14‑year-old boy at the time. Then there's the “toast ritual” of eating grapes or olives that have been inside another player's anus. I've also heard of a case where someone had to choose between penetrating a sexually diverse individual who had been invited for the occasion or being sodomized by a broomstick.
After off-season tournament victories, the excesses were commonplace and conducive to all kinds of violence: fights, alcohol and drug abuse, assault and gang rape, all in the name of the “boys will be boys” principle or because excellence in sport justified it. I also learned that some teams kept Excel files recording young people's sexual prowess with their conquests, shared videos their conquests didn't know about, or exchanged intimate photos they received, just like they were hockey cards.
I don't need to say how much psychological distress the girls they targeted experienced, especially since their peers considered them responsible for the violence they faced, particularly because of the systemic sexism environment in which we were all immersed. Plus, because of the inequities that still remain between men's and women's sports, student athletes have been convinced not to file a complaint so as not to reflect badly on star players or the sport programs that put the institution on the map. Funding, reach and a sense of belonging were at stake for administrators, far ahead of young people's safety and integrity.
A number of young people have also told me how hard it was for them to assume their own sexual identity or to confront their teammates who were causing problems, due to the strict pecking order in the locker room and the bro code. That brotherhood is impenetrable because, at the end of the day, it's bros before hos. Even coaches have little control over this, and some of them encourage this kind of code because they are convinced it builds team spirit.
While it's a hard truth to hear, this violence occurs daily on sports teams, in our schools, in our extracurricular activities, in leagues and, ultimately, wherever sports are played. Before they become athletes, these young people go to school, and the absence of limits and frameworks fosters an environment where impunity prevails.
Based on the information gathered for the investigation report on École Saint-Laurent, we have no official mechanisms for sharing information among sports federations, educational institutions, the government and complaint handling mechanisms. As a result, complaints can be filed with any of those bodies, including the I File a Complaint platform on the Sport'Aide website, without informing the other parties involved. Therefore, multiple reports of unacceptable behaviour by a coach or athlete can be made without them ever having to undergo a thorough or special investigation.
Fortunately, we do have solutions. Now more than ever, child grooming must be officially recognized as a criminal act, and the same is true for psychological and online violence. Athlete status must be formally recognized as a form of moral authority, and coaches must be held accountable for their actions. They must be in a registry, both domestically and internationally. We urgently need to redefine the very meaning of athletic excellence, its values and, above all, how we keep athletes safe.
Furthermore, the law is not designed to prevent injustice. It's only there once we've failed as a society to protect our most marginalized individuals and the crime has already been committed. That's why it's on all of us to stop the violence from happening. A new branch of law focused on gender-based violence must emerge and integrate clear protocols, along with resources adapted to the daily lives of young people to hear what they reveal and to support them, as well as complaint mechanisms that meet victims' needs.
Any amendments to the Canada Health Act, the Physical Activity and Sport Act or any other federal legislation must create safe, integrated, specialized and culturally aware spaces. They must also pull together the various assistance services, while bringing together the various perspectives and therapeutic approaches that victims need to truly be at the centre of the process. We need to create a service corridor.
In addition, the provinces absolutely must pass legislation to protect young people in schools, as recommended by La voix des jeunes compte, a group of young people who have been fighting sexual violence for over four years now.
In short, with support from documentary filmmakers at Les Studios Seaborn, who helped me make the documentary Pour une culture du consentement dans le hockey et dans le sport en général, the strategy is to learn from our mistakes and improve our game for the next match. All we need to do is apply that to our laws and to life in general. It's time for our sports to become a reflection of our national pride again.
Everyone is on time today, and actually even quicker than they need to be. I appreciate that.
We're going to go to the question-and-answer segment right now. The first segment is a six-minute segment. You will have six minutes for questions and answers, so I urge you all to be as concise as you possibly can to get as many questions and answers into the timeline as possible.
I'll begin with Rachael Thomas for the Conservatives.
You have six minutes. Go ahead, please, Rachael.
My first question is for you, Mr. Lindsay, through the chair.
It's come to our attention, looking at past articles in the news, that there was quite the scandal that took place that came to light. In spring of 2022, there were over a hundred letters that were written to Sport Canada from athletes within Boxing Canada. Those letters outlined situations of abuse or of misconduct within the organization, specifically regarding Daniel Trépanier.
I'm curious as to how Boxing Canada dealt with that when you had hundreds of letters coming out.
:
Thank you for the question.
The situation any time we have so many athletes coming forward with allegations is serious, and we need to listen and to investigate. To the best of my understanding, as I was not part of the organization at that point, Boxing Canada engaged with an investigation after putting that employee on suspension. At the end of that investigation, a decision was made to try to move the program in a different direction, which has led to a replacement of that high-performance director position.
During the time of that investigation, Boxing Canada had also turned over one of its coaches and had engaged with the third party company, ITP, which is our designated third party investigative agency, in order to start a long-term study of the culture of boxing writ large within the program.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll ask all the questions through the chair.
I want to start by thanking everyone for being here, including those who are telling their personal stories. I would just say—I'm sure I speak on behalf of the whole committee—that it takes courage to be here and it is important that your voices are being heard. We do appreciate your time.
I will start by addressing Ms. Taylor.
Ms. Taylor, you embody and represent so many parents of children playing hockey or other sports, and as parents we all want to nurture and protect our children. We want to give them those opportunities to grow and to succeed. Part of those opportunities—and you mentioned this—includes competition.
At the same time—and we've heard this from so many people—you spoke about this culture of creating athletes and pushing them to be elite, and it starts at such a young age.
In your opinion, what is a model, a scenario in which that can be done in a balanced way? How can we strike a balance between being competitive and winning at all costs and learning the right life skills?
:
Looking back, being an American and sending my high school-aged son to a different country was a bit naive of me. We're a first-generation hockey family. We live in California and, yes, there is hockey in California. I didn't even know what the CHL was at that point. I didn't know what the USHL was.
My son was identified at a young age, at 14, through the U.S.A. Hockey national team development program. That's when it all started. These opportunities all hit that bantam year. The phone started ringing, and we had all these choices to make. We made the best decision with the information we had at the time. Looking back, we believed what we were told.
When you have a big name fly out to a practice to watch your son skate, and they tell you, “It's about timing and being at the right place at the right time, and we're offering him this great opportunity”, you buy into everything they're telling you.
I am here to say, always remember that it's big business. They're there to make money, and they're not always there for the best interests of the player.
I was down in the States, and my paycheque was about $75 a week. I had a car, and everyone knows that gas is expensive. At the end of the day I had to take a loan out from my parents, and then that summer, when I was supposed to be training and all that, I had to pay off the loan and then pay for my training. Hockey is an expensive sport. It's really expensive.
I will say about the league that I don't think anything has really changed in it. You were saying that you were first generation. I talked to my dad and my uncle—I'm from a long line of WHL players—and nothing has really changed, including the pay, since the 1980s. Look at inflation and how that goes. I don't know what else to say about that.
:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for their testimony, which has often been troubling. We're very grateful to them for showing courage in coming to give us this information. It's extremely important, given that we must draft a report on the subject. It will help us tell the government what action it needs to take.
Mrs. Lemay, one of your recommendations was that grooming should be considered a criminal offence. When we talk about abuse, whether in sports or in schools, it always starts with that form of psychological manipulation, that type of wrongdoing.
Do you have any more details to give us on that? How could we frame that in the Criminal Code?
[English]
Mr. Lindsay, I'd like to come to you.
In response to questions asked by Mrs. Thomas, you talked about the fact that, essentially, for about a year there wasn't an investigation process in place in response to the letter, which talked about the “toxic culture of fear and silence” with Boxing Canada. They write this in their letter:
Many athletes feel they have suffered physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect by the organization because of their failure to address these issues. Repeated attempts have been made to bring these issues to light, and they have been ignored or dismissed.
I understand from your testimony there wasn't a process put in place for complaints.
I note that within Boxing Canada, there is a provision for the high-performance program in the athlete agreement. One thing that is said very clearly is—I'm quoting clause (ff)—that the athlete is engaging to:
Not publicly (including through social media) disparage or advance any grievance against Boxing Canada, Boxing Canada's staff or coaches, members of the National Team, or other HPP athletes except through Boxing Canada's policies for complaints and appeals....
If there wasn't a process in place for complaints and appeals, these athletes were still governed by the athlete's agreement. How could that be that Boxing Canada would not provide an outlet, yet would still, in a sense, oblige a non-disclosure agreement?
:
At a million dollars a year, you would be one of the smaller NSOs out of the 62.
You see, this is my problem with the whole system, if you don't mind me saying. You have no money to fight anything. I'm sorry. You're in the bottom half of the NSOs. You're screwed. You have 121 boxers complaining, and you have no money to help them out. I've seen this with three-quarters of the sports out of 62 NSOs.
We were lucky. We got Hockey Canada here and we got Soccer Canada here, because they're the two biggest. Beyond that, you're in the bottom half and no one could care less about boxing until there's shit that happens, and that's what's happened here. This is where I'm blaming Sport Canada. It should have been flagged long ago. Funding should have been stopped. They don't do anything. They're like Christmas. They just hand out cheques and never follow up. This is a problem with this Liberal government. This is the problem with the sport ministers they have had and continue to have. Nobody follows up in Sport Canada. There are no consequences. I saw it when they were here. They have no recollection. They don't have to answer to anybody. It's disgraceful.
Sport Canada could have stopped this long before we lost Daniel Trépanier. This could have been stopped. We had one of the athletes here in April talking about this. This could have been stopped long ago, but Sport Canada is the problem. OSIC will follow Sport Canada and do nothing. You had to sign on because you needed the million dollars, or you probably wouldn't have signed on in late May. You were forced to.
What is your view? You're just getting into the chair, unfortunately, but you know where I'm coming from with Sport Canada. They don't flag a damn thing. That's where the problems exist with Hockey Canada and with Soccer Canada and, unfortunately, with the little sports like yours—boxing. You haven't had success at the Olympics, and funding doesn't come with that.
I want you to comment on the problems we've had with Sport Canada in this country.
:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to take a moment to thank all of the witnesses for having the commitment and the courage to be here to talk about some of these issues that I know are very personal.
We know from the witnesses who have come in over the last several months that this is not a Sport Canada issue. This is a systemic, historical issue that has spanned decades in this country. For the vice-chair to say that this comes down to money simply is not the truth. It's a systemic issue that's deeply rooted in many of our sports cultures in this country—through the organizations but even beyond that. To simply say we need to spend more money to find a solution, I don't think is a real approach to dealing with these systemic issues.
I think the study we're doing today and the openness to major reform by the minister are the types of things this committee and the minister can do going forward to shed some light on these issues and to look for ways, through our study, to position some solutions for systemic change in sport.
I want to start off with Ms. Taylor.
I was reading through some of the documentation and there was a term that was being used, “garbage bag treatment”. Can you talk specifically about this term and how it impacted your family?
Next I can maybe turn it over to the two players to talk about that term and shed some light on the treatment of players.
I'll go over to you, Ms. Taylor.
:
There's a common phrase that players are called “suitcases”.
They talk about education being so important. They're picking up underage kids who are still in high school. If education is so important, then why are they trading kids who are still in high school?
For my son, they made him enrol in the school. There was an educational adviser there. However, if he had been traded that school year, that would have been a disaster. I mean, they're on these long road trips. They work for 40 hours a week. They really own you in every single way: public appearances, going to hospitals, going to the schools, autograph signings. I'm not saying that they don't enjoy those things. It's just that they're not mandatory. It's to make the CHL look good.
There's also another phrase known that sometimes the players say “thugs in suits”. They look really professional and honest on the outside, but on the inside, they're pretty brutal. There are times where players are walked down the hallway and they feel invisible. Coaches and staff will walk by them and not acknowledge them. There's a lot of cruel punishment.
They're called “interchangeable parts”. They've already made this level where they're at the top 2%. They know they're great hockey players. It's like splitting hairs: “You're just an interchangeable part at this time.” They have a way of making you feel worthless.
:
Thank you for the question.
It's a difficult question for us, given that it's already been a few years since we left that league. Personally, I am close with hockey players, having coached a hockey team last season and having also been a coach and physical trainer to several hockey players.
Within organizations, it's hard for me to say whether the relationship between people in positions of authority and youth has changed. From what I understand, and from discussions I've had with the hockey players I coach, there's still this kind of idolizing — not only of the coach and the members of the organization, but also towards the league. The kids don't seem to know that there are other options for them. They don't know where they can go to play to keep their dream of playing in the National Hockey League alive.
:
If you look at just his whole school thing, he had to quit school because they didn't even check in with the teachers. Thomas here had his injury. With a third party, he could have said, “Hey, what's going on?” He could have given them a call and said, “Can you make sure my school is covered and everything?” Obviously the team didn't do it for him, so there's one example right there.
There are other examples in terms of things like mental health issues. That's a horrible one. You would hate to see more players end up in bad situations—like while they're playing hockey and they get cut. There's been a bad example of that before. You know, a player gets cut and “screamed out” and then they have mental health issues and bad things happen. They do need a third party, even if it's ex-players, to talk to about situations and to get things done so that we don't lose people to mental health issues and substance abuse and all sorts of things. The list goes on and on.
Also, I'd like to say something to athletes about life after hockey. If I could say something to future athletes, it would be that at the end of the day, it's a game that we love to play. Throughout all of this, I haven't stepped foot on the ice since I've been done hockey and all that. It's become too much. People take it way off, and too many of these foul things happen, so that needs to just stop.
:
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
I appreciate everyone being here. I know these are difficult stories to tell.
I'd like to focus on hockey.
It's been troubling, in Niagara, to see it time and again. We've had two general managers of the local OHL team suspended in a row, even with new ownership. It seems the problems keep continuing, as Mr. Walter mentioned.
Ms. Taylor, you mentioned that you didn't want to get into the business model, but do you believe that leads to the problems in the CHL?
:
I don't know what their policy and procedures are.
I had an issue. My son's entrance into the Western Hockey League, and his exit, were both disasters.
In my son's case, he had a groin injury. He came late to the team. I think we had to drive him to L.A. This is before there were direct flights from San Diego to Calgary. We drove him to L.A. He got on a plane by himself, as a teenager, went to Denver, got to Calgary, and then got on another plane and flew to Lethbridge. The GM picked him up, dropped off his bags at the billet and told him to get his clothes on, go to the rink, meet the coaches, get his equipment on and play in an exhibition game.
He never warmed up with the team. He never knew their team systems. He is one of those whom you hear about. On his first shift, he came out, got checked from behind—headfirst into the boards—and was out with a concussion. The other player had a multiple-game suspension, but the damage was done. He was tired. He wasn't fed. He didn't have his own equipment. He was wearing new equipment. He didn't warm up with the team.
:
Finding opportunities for athletes, especially in combat sports, to go into the world to compete against other world-class athletes is very difficult. Boxing is particularly challenged, given some of the international upheaval that has already been referenced.
We are hopeful that there are changes afoot that will clarify some of that pathway, to provide boxing athletes and other combat athletes with multiple levels of international competition, so that, if they are not on our A team, they can be on a B team, which is still able to go out into the world and rack up international points.
If I had my way, I would put that all the way down to a C team and D team. However, as one of the members mentioned, we will need to find other sources of investment for that.
:
Okay. Thank you so much, then, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much to the witnesses.
[Translation]
As you know, we have a former hockey coach with us today. His questions are perhaps a little more specific than mine.
[English]
I want to start with my questions related to hockey.
As you know, we've had intensive interactions with Hockey Canada. The leagues are members of Hockey Canada.
I am wondering whether you have seen over the last year, since there has been a new board in place, a change at all in the attitude of Hockey Canada toward the CHL or toward the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League? Have you seen anything...?
I guess I'll go to Thomas and Lukas first.
:
Again, I understand. I think it's part of the hockey paradigm.
Richard was asking whether it was different by team. As you stated, I think it's the same as when your dad was there in the eighties. Whether it's a new hockey family or an old hockey family that goes through generations, the league stays relatively the same. Given that this committee's goal is to make recommendations related to....
Each sport is different, but in hockey, we've tackled the safe sport issue a little bit. I think the new board is committed to dealing with a safer sport.
In terms of labour conditions within junior hockey, what are the major recommendations you would say we should make? We can only really exercise them through funding from Sport Canada to Hockey Canada. We don't have leverage over the leagues themselves, necessarily. What are the major things...?
Chris explored whether it should be unionized, whether the league should have policies. Basically, they're taking mostly underage kids away from their parents, putting them with billet families and not really taking care of them in a proper way. What should we recommend?
I'll go maybe to both of you.
Like I said, I think the CHL players should be recognized as federal employees, because, if we look at the demand....
If you will allow me, I will share a bit of my experience.
I was 15 when I left my home. I was told exactly how to dress and when to dress that way, when to get to the rink and when to eat. I couldn't eat the food I chose. It was the food I was given. I was told how to act and how to speak, also, in certain situations. They also commented on my hairstyle and the way I walked.
If this doesn't look like a regiment or a company trying to build a culture image around their employees, I don't know what does.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
First of all, I'd like to acknowledge the courage of those who dared to speak out, starting with your son, Ms. Taylor. I'd like to highlight the whole legal movement he created in relation to Mr. Daniel Carcillo. I'm also thinking of people like Mr. Walter and Mr. Gobeil, of course, as well as Mr. Sheldon Kennedy, a former hockey player.
Ms. Taylor, what legacy would you like your son to leave by speaking out? What message do you want to send to other victims who have yet to speak out, whether in hockey or elsewhere?
Thank you to our witnesses. You have stepped forward with a lot of courage.
We've had a sports system that has been irresponsible and not responsive to victims for decades. These problems have been swept under the carpet, and your coming forward today, I think, will help us. Certainly all four parties here are wedded to the idea that we need to start taking action and that it can no longer be a situation where sports organizations sometimes act well or sometimes act poorly, but it always happens with impunity and the federal government funding continues to flow to those organizations. That, I think we all agree, has to stop. The tied funding now has to ensure that it is safe for athletes, safe for the public, safe for kids—safe for everybody.
It's going to be a long road for us to get there, but your testimony today has helped us start to form the recommendations that will set us in the right direction.
Mr. Lindsay, I want to ask you the question about Boxing Canada, because you also have a road to take. Boxing Canada had a huge blow to its credibility a year ago. People did courageously step forward. What are the other things that Boxing Canada has to do to re-establish credibility and confidence in the organization?