By Canadian Press

Cromwell says it’s clear ‘efforts were made’ to improve Hockey Canada board

Dec 13, 2022 | 12:55 PM

OTTAWA — Former Supreme Court judge Thomas Cromwell said Tuesday it was apparent a “serious effort” was made to improve diversity, gender balance and range of experience on Hockey Canada’s board of directors.

The candidates — five women and four men — were named a day earlier to fill the vacant board seats at the national sport organization. Hockey Canada’s provincial and territorial members will hold a Saturday vote on whether to accept or reject the entire slate of nominees.

Cromwell, who headed an independent review into Hockey Canada’s governance, said he didn’t have a role in the selection process since his mandate ended when he handed in his report.

“It certainly appears that the nominating committee tried extremely hard to recruit the sort of board with the sort of profile that I recommended,” he said during a remote appearance at a Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage meeting. 

The previous Hockey Canada board stepped down in October as part of the fallout from the scandal-plagued federation’s past handling of sexual assault allegations and hushed payouts to victims.

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In a 221-page review, Cromwell concluded the federation was at a “crossroads” and called for more oversight and accountability. The report provided several recommendations, including that no more than 60 per cent of Hockey Canada’s board members be of the same gender. 

Cromwell said Tuesday that he couldn’t comment on individual candidates, adding it will be “for the members and others to decide” if the nominating committee’s efforts have been successful.

“Just looking at the bios of the people that have been nominated to the board, I’d certainly conclude that the nominating committee made serious efforts to implement the sorts of recommendations that I made,” Cromwell said.

Hugh L. Fraser, a retired judge with nearly three decades of experience at the Ontario court of justice, has been nominated as board chair.

Cassie Campbell-Pascal, who captained the Canadian women’s team to Olympic gold at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Games, is on the nominee list along with Grant Borbridge, Julie Duranceau, Dave Evans, Marni Fullerton, Jonathan F. Goldbloom, Marian Jacko and Andrea Poole.

In a release, Hockey Canada said that once elected, the new board is expected to lead the organization “through the urgent changes necessary to ensuring greater safety and inclusiveness in and around hockey and restore trust in the organization.”

During his one-hour video appearance, Cromwell was asked which of his report’s recommendations were most important to implement right away.

“The whole nominations process I think is vital because if you don’t have the right people around the table, it’s going to be a problem,” he said. 

“Second of all, to work hard on a transparent and detailed policy framework for the kinds of tough decisions that the board will have to make, and to provide that framework for staff that the board can monitor their work.”

Hockey Canada is looking to move forward after a disastrous stretch last summer that saw its federal and corporate funding paused or halted. 

There were also several heritage committee meetings where officials past and present were grilled by legislators, ultimately leading to the board’s resignation and the departure of embattled president and CEO Scott Smith.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022. 

The Canadian Press