There are growing calls to outlaw non-disclosure agreements across the country as Hockey Canada and other sports organizations reel from sexual assault scandals, including some that led to multi-million dollar payouts to keep details about the incidents secret.
Non-disclosure agreements can prohibit sexual assault complainants from speaking publicly about their allegations in exchange for a settlement.
University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane has helped provinces draft legislation to prevent the abuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
She's now advocating for the federal government to do the same. "The Hockey Canada story has illustrated the pervasiveness and the ubiquity of non-disclosure agreements in just pushing everything back under the rug again," said Macfarlane who is the co-founder of a campaign called "Can't Buy My Silence." "There's no identification of the perpetrator and no consequences that are known.