Pat McLaughlin, Hockey Canada’s senior vice president of strategy, operations and brand, was also called to appear.
Nicholson, 69, was President and CEO of Hockey Canada from 1998 to 2014. He feels he could have done more to avoid glitches with the National Equity Fund and other funds used by the organization to settle lawsuits before they reach the courts.
I wish I could go back. I wish I could have implemented more guidelines. I was the CEO and I should have promoted more policies… Listening to what you say and what several others are saying, I’m sorry.
Nicholson repeatedly reiterated that these funds are not intended to silence the victims, but to compensate them on the case example after justice has run its course. Graham James, convicted of multiple sexual assaultsincluding against former NHL players Sheldon Kennedy and Theoren Fleury.
In the cases I’ve been involved with at Hockey Canada, the individuals, there have been a few, have been convicted in court, Bob Nicholson said. We have had interviews with the victims and I believe that we have protected these victims as much as possible.
Nicholson was also asked about the silence surrounding Hockey Canada’s financial activities. This law of silence is often characterized by the signing of non-disclosure agreements after out-of-court settlements or, more simply, after terminations.
NDP MP for New Westminster-Burnaby Peter Julian raised the case of Dan Church, the women’s national team coach resigned
a few weeks before the games in Sochi.
They say it was a performance issue. If so, why was a non-disclosure agreement necessary?
started by saying the deputy before continuing more directly.
Was Hockey Canada trying to hide something?
After saying he couldn’t say much due to the non-disclosure agreement, Nicholson tried to explain that several sensitive issues had been discussed with the assistants and with some of the players and this is probably why said agreement was drafted and signed.
Bob Nicholson still believes that the sticky points of his tenure were handled well, but that if it had to happen again he would avoid it that so many cases of this nature are discussed behind closed doors
.
$1.6 million for public relations
MP Julian has continued to attack the organization’s lack of transparency since Hockey Canada officials began making appearances.
On Tuesday, he attacked Hockey Canada’s publications to get his message across rather than change the culture around hockey.
He condemned the hiring of a public relations firm whose goal appeared to be to help Hockey Canada fail to answer the many questions about its management.
MP Julian’s question to Pat McLaughlin, senior vice president of strategy, operations and brand at Hockey Canada, was quite simple.
Who made the decision to hire Navigator and will Hockey Canada finally let us know how much public money has been spent on Navigator to run a PR campaign?
After explaining that the decision was made by the board of directors, McLaughlin added that this firm had been hired precisely for reasons of transparency and had provided governance advice to Hockey Canada executives.
He concluded by saying that $1.6 million has been spent on this file so far.
This was the fourth time that Hockey Canada representatives have appeared before the Canadian Heritage Standing Committee at hearings on safe practice of the sport in Canada, and for the first time MPs seemed relatively satisfied with what they had heard.
Finally, after underlining the openness of MM. However, Nicholson and McLaughlin, the committee’s chair, Liberal MP for the Vancouver Center Hedy Fry, added that there was still work to be done.
Although this is the first time we have received replies, we have not yet received any assurances that there will be changes, transparency and accountability.
There she ended the meeting.
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