Members of Canada’s 2003 world hockey junior team accused of sex assault: Hockey Canada

Hockey Canada says members of its 2003 men’s world junior hockey championship team are being investigated for a group sexual assault.

The national sports organization has lost government funding and corporate sponsorship following an alleged sexual assault by the 2018 men’s junior hockey team.

Hockey Canada has been under fire since news broke in May that a woman alleged eight players — including members of the 2018 world junior team — sexually assaulted her following a gala event in London, Ont., four years ago.

The woman who made the allegation was seeking more than $3.5 million in damages from Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and the unnamed players, but details of the settlement are not public. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

It also emerged this week that Hockey Canada has been using its so-called “National Equity Fund” — which is maintained by membership fees collected across the country — to settle sexual assault claims.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there needs to be a “real reckoning” at Hockey Canada as the organization continues to deal with the fallout related to its handling of an alleged sexual assault and out-of-court settlement.

Trudeau added that the federation “has to do an awful lot” to regain the trust of Canadians.

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 National Hockey League issued the following statement on Friday to Sportsnet regarding the allegations: “We were made aware earlier today of the horrific allegations against members of the 2002-03 Canadian National Junior Team. The National Hockey League will look into the allegations and will respond appropriately.” Almost all of the members of the 2003 Canadian team went on to play in the NHL.

Hockey Canada 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.”