Raylene (she/her)

Beyond the scope of this verdict in London, I have some things to say about Hockey Canada. Not enough has been done. That organization MUST be renamed and rebranded, & I hope all parties involved (every single World Juniors player - not just the 5 charged - AND the accuser take part in a process that holds the organization & some of its departed leaders criminally accountable. It's a FACT they used registration fees paid by Canadian families to build a secret (to everyone but their leaders) "slush fund" to quietly settle sexual abuse & assault cases. It's a FACT they paid out millions to settle claims, & did so without fully disclosing those settlements to parents, players, the general public, or the ACCUSED PARTIES. And in this 2018 case, it's a FACT they settled the alleged victim's case swiftly without making the identities of the players public, pressing for a full internal investigation, despite having the leverage, in 2018, to do exactly that. They paid the hush money, without even telling one player or one family member from that team the players who were named & accused, the players who weren't named or accused, & the players (of which there were several) who weren't even in London for this event. By doing so, they didn't cooperate with London Police. By doing so, they obstructed justice. By doing this enough times, they shielded their players not only from properly facing accusations, but they buried innocent players under the same dark cloud of suspicion & rumour. Utterly disgusting. When this scandal broke, NONE of the leadership of Hockey Canada stepped down voluntarily. It took a grilling from federal Parliamentarians, the media (we did our best), & sponsors before heads properly rolled. Finally, they did E.M. no justice whatsoever by paying out a settlement, not making players accountable or questioning them. Their goal? Get her to shut up, make her happy, bury the story, & protect reputations. Regardless of your thoughts on the verdict, the ensuing media attention created a re-think from London Police regarding criminal charges, & put E.M., YEARS after attempting to recover from her experience (however you perceive it) through considerably more trauma than any of us could imagine - again, regardless, of what you may consider the legitimacy of her testimony & her account of the events. It's a disgusting miscarriage of justice. It makes me puke to see the two words together - "Hockey Canada" & the logo. Burn it. Nuke it. Many begged for this 3 years ago. New name, new logo, new sense of accountability. Allegations must be listened to and investigated. The accused must be given their right to defend their actions, reputations, & must be in the loop. And it goes without saying, starting a slush fund to pay off accusers, shield players from scrutiny (without the players getting to know about it or defend themselves), all with the $ of families & taxpayers is one of the grossest things we've ever witnessed in Canadian sport. I hope we won't forget this. I hope we do something about it. If not now, when? Institutions need to be trusted - these "leaders" led no one. They protected no one. They advocated for no one. Thus, they are deserving of no one's respect.