Funding for COVID-19 helped the nonprofit national hockey government close a $ 13.2 million budget surplus for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021 – further completing a collection of stocks, bonds, cash and other assets. which then valued at more than $ 153 million. The agency reported a loss of $ 3.2 million in 2020, due to the reduction of market values for its investments, against a surplus of $ 18.1 million in 2019. Hockey Canada’s finances will be in the spotlight on Monday as three current and former executives – including Tom Renney, the outgoing CEO, who is due to retire on July 1 – will testify in Parliament Hill before Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Politicians from all parties are seeking to determine whether public funds were used to settle a $ 3.55 million lawsuit filed by a woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted by eight former Canadian Hockey League players following an Hockey Canada Foundation event in London. , in Ont. June 2018. Her statement of claim states that some of the perpetrators – identified only as John Doe 1 to 8 – were members of Canada’s national junior team, which had won the IIHF Gold Championship six months earlier. The woman has not been named and her allegations have not been proven in court. But the news of the lawsuit, first reported last month by TSN, has resonated in the world of hockey and beyond. Pascale St-Onge, the federal sports minister, has ordered a forensic examination of Hockey Canada’s finances. “What I want to know and I think all Canadians want to know is, have public resources been used to cover up this horrific story of collective rape?” St-Onge told reporters earlier this month after ordering the review. “The other thing Canadians want to know is how such an important organization could ensure that its players will not be held accountable for these allegations.” Federal Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge, who appeared before the House of Commons in February, ordered a forensic examination of Hockey Canada’s finances to examine whether public funds were used to settle a sexual assault lawsuit filed against a young man. (Blair Gable / Reuters) The National Hockey League is conducting its own investigation to determine if any of its current players were among those charged. Twenty-two members of the 2017-18 junior squad were drafted by the NHL. Hockey Canada representatives did not respond to a request for an interview with CBC News or any written questions about his finances. However, a media statement on the commission’s appearance, released last week, stated that “no state funds were used for the recent settlement of the lawsuit”.
The nonprofit had $ 25 million in cash last June
The organization is very public about certain numbers – such as its 385,190 registered players – but is less willing when it comes to attaching dollar-denominated items to its business. Hockey Canada says only a small portion of its funding – six percent, according to its 2020-21 annual report – comes from “government aid”, compared to 43 percent from “business development and partnerships”. However, the financial statements submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charity Division provide a more complete picture. (As a registered Canadian Amateur Sports Association, Hockey Canada is permitted to issue tax receipts for donations.) These deposits show that Hockey Canada received $ 5.65 million in Sports Canada operating grants in fiscal year 2021, as well as $ 2.45 million under the Canada Emergency Wage Grant (CEWS) and an additional $ 197,000 in rent subsidy. emergency in Canada, both pandemic relief programs. That total of $ 8.3 million represents 13.4 percent of the agency’s $ 61.9 million in annual revenue. The Hockey Canada emblematic logo has long been a feature of national team sweaters. The agency’s finances will be in the spotlight on Monday, when four current and former executives are scheduled to testify in Parliament Hill before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. (Albert Leung / CBC) For the fiscal year ending June 2020, Hockey Canada received $ 4.95 million in federal operating grants and $ 760,000 in CEWS funding – 8.7 percent of its $ 65 million revenue. As of the end of June 2021, Hockey Canada had nearly $ 25 million in cash, as well as $ 41.5 million in bonds and $ 77 million in shares, split into three trust and donation funds – with the total value of its assets growing. $ 20 million by 2020 and $ 32 million more than 2019. The financial statements show that Hockey Canada did not pay income tax in fiscal 2020 or 2021. However, the agency paid $ 9.64 million in premiums in fiscal 2021, for everything from accidental medical and dental coverage to liability for third-party sexual misconduct – a possible source for the recent lawsuit settlement. CLOCKS Commission to look into hockey funding for Canada following a 2018 sexual assault complaint:
Hockey Canada Faces Questions About How It Paid Sexual Assault Settlement
Hockey Canada executives will answer questions at a committee hearing in Ottawa about how the agency has used public funding in recent years, including millions in pandemic support. Critics also want to know if the funding was used for settlement after allegations of sexual assault by players.
It demands more responsibility
Bruce Kidd, an emeritus professor of sports and public policy at the University of Toronto, said Canadians deserve more transparency than the people who run the country’s national sport. “I think they owe a report on what happened … an account of how the settlement was paid,” he said. “And I think the most important thing for me is that they have to give a much better description of how they are trying to change the culture of their sport, so that these attacks – which have a long history in hockey and some other sports – never to be repeated. “ Kidd said he believes many sports in Canada are in crisis and that the appropriate response from the government could be to call a commission of inquiry, such as Charles Dubin’s investigation into drugs that improve performance in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal. the 1988 Summer Olympics. “I think there are a lot more voices calling for change now than at the last minute we had a national debate on sexual harassment, abuse and misbehavior in sports in the early 1990s,” Kidd said. “I mean, it’s wall to wall now. It’s not just a few sports, it’s almost all sports. And it will be very difficult for decision makers not to act.” Jennifer Dunn, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Center, says the news of the alleged hockey player sexual assault in her hometown has been difficult for her clients. He hopes that more emphasis will be placed on prevention. (Albert Leung / CBC) Jennifer Dunn, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Center, the city where the alleged gang sexual assault took place, said the controversy over Hockey Canada’s handling of the 2018 allegations has bothered some of its clients. “I’m saying that women who have been sexually assaulted are basically serving life sentences because, yes, they can get support from agencies like ours, but it does not go away for very long,” she said. However, he said all attention to whether taxpayers’ money was used for the settlement seems misplaced. “It just keeps happening. It’s like a locker room mentality where it’s almost as if these young kids have grown up with no value in a woman’s life,” Dunn said. “The real focus must be on how to stop this.”
