Hockey New Brunswick joins Hockey Quebec, Hockey Nova Scotia and the Ontario Hockey Federation in not wanting Hockey Canada to receive the $3 participant assessment fee.
Hockey New Brunswick originally stated Thursday it would wait for the results of the independent governance review of Hockey Canada led by former Supreme Court of Canada justice Thomas Cromwell before taking next steps.
Now, the provincial organization said it won’t pay the $3 per player fee to Hockey Canada as the review continues.
This comes as other regional hockey bodies and major sponsors decided to suspend support of Hockey Canada amid a lack of confidence in the national body’s senior leadership. While Tim Hortons, Scotiabank, Telus, Canadian Tire and Chevrolet/GM stopped sponsoring Hockey Canada – Canadian Tire permanently cutting ties – Nike has now joined the others in suspending support.
“We believe significant and substantive action is required to support athletes and transform hockey for future generations,” Nike said in a statement.
“We’ll continue to monitor the situation and await more information regarding Hockey Canada’s actions to address the findings in these investigations and create a safe environment for all athletes,” Nike added.
Hockey Quebec was the first to withhold the participant fee, which it decided on hours after the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage questioned former chair of Hockey Canada’s board of directors Michael Brind’Amour and current interim chair Andrea Skinner about the national body’s handling of sexual assault allegations.
Skinner defended Hockey Canada’s senior leadership at the hearing, saying the board does not share the view it should be replaced “on the basis of what we consider to be substantial misinformation and unduly cynical attacks.”
Skinner also said that hockey is being used as a “scapegoat” for general toxic culture, and the focus on one sport is counterproductive to looking at broader change to prevent and address toxic behavior.
Regional federations previously threatened to withhold Hockey Canada dues in August unless they were better informed of internal improvements from the national organization and of the 2018 sexual assault allegations against members of the Canadian Hockey League, including those on the 2018 world juniors team.
