Hockey Canada’s board and CEO resign amid fallout from sexual abuse scandal

Hockey Canada ousted CEO Scott Smith on Tuesday and the board of directors also resigned due to a series of scandals that have rocked the sport’s national federation to its core.

Smith was unable to survive the fallout related to how Hockey Canada handled sexual assault allegations and how the organization paid out settlements.

Former board chair Michael Brind’Amour resigned in August and interim chair Andrea Skinner stepped down on Saturday after politicians, including Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, called for leadership change and corporate sponsors jumped ship.

“It is inconceivable that folks at Hockey Canada continue to dig in. It’s not like there’s something extraordinarily special about the people at Hockey Canada that means they are the only people in the country that can run an organization like this,” Trudeau told reporters before a cabinet meeting last week.

“They need to realize that if we have to create an organization, get rid of Hockey Canada and create an organization called ‘Canada Hockey’ instead, people will look at doing that.”

Smith took over from outgoing CEO Tom Renney on 1 July after a succession plan was announced in April. But damaging allegations soon followed.

TSN was first to report in May that an undisclosed settlement had been paid to a woman who alleged in a $3.55m lawsuit she was sexually assaulted by eight players including members of the country’s world junior team after a 2018 Hockey Canada gala in London, Ontario.

Then it was revealed that Hockey Canada had a secretive fund, partly maintained by minor hockey registration fees, to pay for uninsured liabilities, including sexual assault and abuse claims.

A Hockey Canada official testified in July that the organization had paid