Hockey Canada Has A Second Sex Assault Slush Fund Funded From Kids Hockey Registration Fees Because of Course They Do

Oct 4, 2022
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Fire all of them. Burn it down and make Sheldon Kennedy the CEO of Hockey Canada forever.

https://twitter.com/ketchupchip2017/status/1576912382214819840?s=20&t=8yVSW-uF7yWFTIGKrMziRA

Globe and Mail: Several years after Hockey Canada began using player registration fees to build a large financial reserve known as the National Equity Fund to cover sexual assault claims and other lawsuits, it channelled a significant portion of that money into a second multimillion-dollar fund for similar purposes.

Known as theParticipants Legacy Trust Fund, the reserve was created by the organization and its members with more than $7.1-million from the National Equity Fund. The money was earmarked “for matters including but not limited to sexual abuse,” according to Hockey Canada documents obtained by The Globe and Mail.

The trust, with its vaguely worded name, is another example of a large financial reserve created by Hockey Canada and its member branches to cover sexual assault claims, among other things, with funds gathered from hockey registration fees, without fully disclosing to parents and players how their money was ultimately being used.

The Globe first reported in July that Hockey Canada used a little-known reserve called the National Equity Fund, built through player registration fees, to settle a $3.55-million lawsuit filed this year by a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by several members of the 2018 World Junior team.

The lawsuit was settled in a matter of weeks for an undisclosed sum, without completing a full investigation into the incident or requiring players to co-operate with the probe. The settlement came despiteHockey Canada chief financial officer Brian Cairosaying, “We didn’t know all the details of the night, but we did believe harm was caused.” Police in London, Ont., where the alleged assault occurred, have since reopened their investigation, while lawyers for the unnamed players in the lawsuit deny the allegations.

Amid the controversy, Hockey Canada, the sport’s governing body, reassured sponsors and government that none of their money was used to settle the lawsuit. Though Hockey Canada previously disclosed very little about the National Equity Fund and how it operated, officials later acknowledged at federal hearings in July that it was used to pay settlements on nine sexual assault claims totalling $7.6-million since 1989, not including the claim settled this year.

But the National Equity Fund wasn’t the only such account. Documents filed in AlbertaCourt of Queen’s Bench reveal details of the Participants Legacy Trust Fund, which was created in 1999 for Hockey Canada’s member branches, including provincial hockey organizations, by transferring millions of dollars out of the National Equity Fund into this new reserve.

The trust was set up to handle claims against Hockey Canada’s member branches from incidents occurring from 1986 to 1995, before Hockey Canada began purchasing insurance for sexual assault claims and other liabilities. It covered an era when the sport was hit with numerous sexual abuse cases, including those associated with disgraced coach Graham James.

Remember last month when Canadians who paid Hockey Canada thousands in kid’s hockey fees found out half of those fees went to settling 21 lawsuits totalling 9 million dollars?

I do.

After several public inquiries, the Hockey Canada board rejected calls to step down, hiding a second sex assault slush fund in the process.

So, they lied about the lies they were caught lying about.

Every single person who works for or has worked at Hockey Canada from 1985 – the present needs to be investigated right now. Anyone who helped cover up and hide the serial abuse by players and or members of Hockey Canada needs to be held accountable for actively not giving a shit about the women and girls who were sexually assaulted.
ANYONE associated with Hockey Canada who pretended to operate in good faith with knowledge of these slush fund payouts would be charged with fraud and being accessories to sexual assault and subsequent cover-ups of those crimes.

Of the $24 shipped to Hockey Canada from player registration fees, $14 has gone into these ‘sex assault/injury funds.”

And what does it say when in 2020, Hockey Canada went to court to change the rules of these trust funds because they anticipated more sexual assault allegations? Are those the actions of an innocent party operating in good faith on behalf of dozens of victims of sexual assault?

I don’t think so.

The Federal Government needs to take a flame thrower the Hockey Canada.

The Board.

The day-to-day ops.

The exectutive.

EVERYONE needs to be fired and investigated for their role in stealing from parents to pay off other people’s kids whose lives were ruined by Hockey Canada over the last 40 years.

Send these dicks to the fucking moon.

DB

Dean Blundell

Dean Blundell is a Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime morning host on CFNY-FM (The Edge) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL (Sportsnet 590 The Fan). Dean started his career in radio in 2001 and for nearly 20 years been entertaining the radio audience. Dean’s newest venture is the launch of his site and podcast which is gaining tremendous momentum across North America.

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