Hockey Canada has released the final report outlining a governance review completed by Justice Thomas Cromwell.
According to Hockey Canada’s release, the review and Cromwell’s recommendations “are intended to provide Hockey Canada with the capacity to play its important role in making the changes in its governance model that are necessary to create the foundation upon which to rebuild the confidence of stakeholders and the public.”
The updated report follows an interim report released by Cromwell in mid-October. The full report was given to Hockey Canada on Oct. 31 and outlines recommendations and findings related to the board of directors’ composition and processes, nominating committee composition, senior management roles and oversight, and the operations of Hockey Canada’s internal committees.
Related to the board of directors, Cromwell’s recommendations state recruitment for the board “needs to be fundamentally rethought.” With only days remaining for the board of directors nominations, it’s unlikely such fundamental change, as it relates to the board and nominating committee, will be in place before elections in December.
Other notable recommendations for the board of directors include to “achieve more balanced gender representation,” “ensure the Board of Directors will include at least one athlete representative,” and to rectify an issue that has become a discussion at recent Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage hearings that “minutes should be taken at all board, member and committee meetings.”
Specifically, the gender representation portion of Cromwell’s recommendations states that no more than 60 percent of the board can be composed of individuals of the same gender. The report also recommends increasing the size of the board of directors from nine to 13 individuals.
Cromwell’s advice to Hockey Canada involved expanding the role of the organization’s senior vice president legal/general counsel to include duties of a “chief risk officer,” who would “be responsible for identifying, considering and assisting in mitigating risks the organization, and the sport generally, are facing.” The review itself was related to alleged involvement of Hockey Canada athletes and the mishandling of sexual assault allegations from 2018, as well as the use of Hockey Canada’s National Equity Fund to settle cases of sexual violence.
Cromwell also suggested Hockey Canada “replace the Director Women & Girls position with a senior leadership position which would be responsible for women’s hockey.” With sponsors and funding being pulled from Hockey Canada’s men’s programming, the impact on women and girls in sport has been a point of concern for many.
The list of recommendations, including those related to senior management, oversight, board operations, and how funds are used and reported on is long, and Cromwell recognizes that change will not come easily.
“Implementing my recommendations will require strong support and openness to change on the part of the membership, participants and stakeholders,” the report said. “Hockey Canada alone will not be able to achieve all the changes required. Indeed, it is just one entity in the web of organizations and entities that have a role to play in hockey in this country.”
“Hockey Canada is at a crossroads,” Cromwell continued in the report. “I believe that if it commits itself to the fundamental governance reform that I recommend, it will have a solid foundation upon which to rebuild the confidence of stakeholders and the public and be well-positioned to achieve its mission…”
With the board of directors nominations closing on Nov. 10 and board elections to occur on Dec. 17, the direction Hockey Canada chooses from this “crossroads” will soon be defined.
