Hockey Canada’s independent nominating committee released its candidates for the organization’s new board of directors on Monday.
The organization’s members will hold a vote Saturday on whether to accept or reject the entire slate, which includes five women and four men, on a one-year term.
Hockey Canada has been without a board of directors since it resigned en masse in October after a contentious Parliamentary hearing — the third time officials had been called to Ottawa since June — and the unveiling of former Supreme Court Judge Thomas Cromwell’s interim report. The board’s resignation came on the same day president and CEO Scott Smith left the organization, and days after the resignation of interim board chair Andrea Skinner.
Hugh L. Fraser, a retired judge with nearly three decades of experience at the Ontario court of justice, has been nominated as board chair.
Fraser, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up in Kingston, Ont., has been an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration for Sport since 1995 and served on the first ad hoc court at the Olympic Games in 1996.
Cassie Campbell-Pascall brings the most experience with Hockey Canada to the table among the nominees.
A three-time Olympian who captained Canada’s women’s team to gold medals in 2002 and 2006, Campbell-Pascall currently sits on the Hockey Canada Foundation board.
The other nominees are Grant Borbridge, Julie Duranceau, Dave Evans, Marni Fullerton, Jonathan F. Goldbloom, Marian Jacko and Andrea Poole.
Borbridge, Jacko and Poole have significant hockey administration experience.
Borbridge, a corporate lawyer from Calgary, served on the board of the Girls Hockey Calgary Association and the Glenlake Minor Hockey Club.
Jacko, who is an Anishinaabe from Wiikwemkoong First Nation, is the assistant deputy attorney general for the Indigenous Justice Division of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. She is also president and a former coach of the Little Native Hockey League.
Poole, who runs the accounting firm Numeris CPA Professional Corporation, has sat as director of the Ottawa East Minor Hockey Association.
More than 550 candidates applied for a position on the board, nominating committee chair Michael Bruni said in a statement.
Hockey Canada’s leadership has been under scrutiny since news broke in May that the organization settled a lawsuit with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by eight CHL players, including members of the 2018 Canadian world junior team. It was later revealed Hockey Canada used a National Equity Fund, made partially of player registration fees, to pay the settlement.
The World Junior Championship returns to Canada on Dec. 26, when it will be held in Halifax and Moncton, N.B.
With files from The Canadian Press
