Hockey Canada released a statement on Friday revealing it has learned of an alleged group sexual assault said to have taken place in 2003.
“(Thursday) evening, Hockey Canada learned of an alleged group sexual assault from 2003 involving members of the 2002-03 National Junior Team after being contacted by Rick Westhead of TSN/CTV National News with disturbing details of the alleged incident,” the statement said. “Mr. Westhead informed Hockey Canada he has spoken to multiple witnesses who provided him with explicit descriptions of an assault, following an interview with Conservative MP John Nater, who is in possession of the same or similar information.”
Nater is a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which heard testimony from Hockey Canada officials on June 20 about 2018 sexual assault allegations and their handling of a lawsuit settled in May. The committee will further question members of Hockey Canada, as well as others around the organization, in another set of hearings July 26-27.
Hockey Canada called the details of the 2003 alleged incident, provided by Westhead via email, “deeply disturbing.” The organization said it contacted Halifax Regional Police upon learning of the allegations (Halifax co-hosted the 2003 world junior championship) and also made Sport Canada aware of the situation. A request for a comment by Sportsnet to Halifax police was not immediately returned.
“Hockey Canada is committed to bringing an end to the culture of silence in hockey. That is why we are publicly calling for anyone with knowledge of this incident to come forward to police, and we are being transparent in how we learned of this alleged assault and the steps we are taking to address it,” the statement reads.
The federation said that before learning on Thursday of the alleged incident, staff had “heard a rumour about ‘something bad at the 2003 World Juniors’” but did not have details. They reported the information to Sport Canada and hired a third-party investigator. The investigator, said Hockey Canada, was “unable to learn anything” before receiving the email from TSN.
The statement continues:
“We believe the alleged incident from 2003 should be investigated by the authorities, and we urge the police to open an investigation into this disturbing situation. Hockey Canada will cooperate with and support the authorities in every way we can, and we once again urge anyone who may have relevant information about this alleged incident to contact Halifax police immediately.
“Hockey Canada wants to hear from anyone – past or present – who feels they are the victim of mistreatment, sexual violence, harassment or abuse by someone affiliated with our organization. You can reach out via the Canadian Sport Helpline, a free, anonymous, confidential and independent service in both official languages: 1-888-837 7678 or info@abuse-free-sport.ca. We also encourage anyone who may need support to reach out to one of the many victim resource services across Canada. A general listing of resources in this area is available on the website of the Canadian Resource Centre for the Victims of Crime at crcvc.ca.”
