Hockey Canada admits to using player fees for second fund to protect against sexual assault claims
Hockey Canada is under more hot water Monday, as The Globe and Mall reported another sketchy move made by the organization.
Hockey Canada first began using player registration fees to build a financial reserve to cover sexual assault claims and other lawsuits with the National Equity Fund. Now, they have directed another significant portion of that cash into an additional multi-million dollar fund for the same reasons.
This fund is called the Participants Legacy Trust Fund, and it was created with more than $7.1 million from the National Equity Fund. According to The Globe and Mall, "The money was earmarked for matters including but not limited to sexual abuse."
The fund was created with a very simplistic name in order to help hide the fact that it would be used to cover sexual assault claims, along with other lawsuits that could give Hockey Canada a bad reputation. The funds were gathered again by player fees, and the worst part is that the players and parents both had no idea how that money was being used.
It was reported in July that Hockey Canada used the little known reserve at the time, the National Equity Fund, to settle the $3.55 million lawsuit filed this year by a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by participants on the 2018 World Junior team.
Officials have also released that it was used to pay settlements on NINE different sexual assault claims adding up to a whopping $7.6 million since 1989, which doesn't even include the claim this year.
The trust was supposed to be disassembled in 2020, but it was reversed and now it will be in place until 2039.
"The trustees believe that more claims will be brought after the Division Date as currently defined, and this is the primary reason to extend the duration of the trust," Mr. Cairo said in an affidavit filed in January, 2019, in the Alberta court.
"The original purpose of the trust continues to exist and will likely subsist beyond the Division Date," Mr. Cairo said.
"The original purpose of the trust continues to exist and will likely subsist beyond the Division Date," Mr. Cairo said.
Hockey Canada spokesperson Jeremy Knight also backed up Cairo, bit would not specify whether or not it was pointing to something more specific.
"Mr. Cairo's statement was not based on knowledge of a specific claim or incident, or any specific anticipated claims or incidents," Mr. Knight said.
"It is important to keep in mind that since 1999, when the trust was first formed, Canadians' understanding of the nature and extent of claims of sexual abuse has improved significantly. We now know that these claims often arise many decades after the alleged incident occurs, which is why it was reasonable to apply to extend the trust beyond 2020."
"It is important to keep in mind that since 1999, when the trust was first formed, Canadians' understanding of the nature and extent of claims of sexual abuse has improved significantly. We now know that these claims often arise many decades after the alleged incident occurs, which is why it was reasonable to apply to extend the trust beyond 2020."
Hockey Canada claims that it never kept its use of the fund to pay uninsured claims secret, but it still seems like they could have disclosed these kind of matters much better than they have.
Hockey Canada established a second fund to help provincial branches settle sexual assault claims, The Globe and Mail reports.
Similar to HC's "National Equity Fund," player registration funds were also used to build up the "Participants Legacy Trust Fund."https://t.co/CbZXiso5Fm— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 3, 2022
Top 10 latest hockey stories
