Non-Disclosure: Hockey's Culture of Silence Still Exists... Not Just In Hockey Canada
Hockey Canada is not the only organization using NDAs to conceal sexual violence
When the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage concluded their hearing this week with former Hockey Canada CEO Bob Nicholson, and current vice president Pat McLaughlin, the tone from members of parliament was different. MPs were thankful for what they interpreted as a more honest, sincere testimony.
That doesn’t mean, however, that truth was heard or that the full truth is known.
As Bloc Quebecois MP Sebastien Lemire stated, addressing Bob Nicholson, “What we are noticing in hindsight is that you were in a sense the architect of this culture…the culture of silence and the cover-up culture.”
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada defines architects as “trusted advisors, their role is holistic, blending diverse requirements and disciplines in a creative process, while serving the public interest and addressing health and safety matters.”
If this definition is the standard, Nicholson failed. He failed by public standard of losing the trust of Canadians, and by failing to serve public interest and address health and safety.
As Nicholson stated in his own words regarding his failure to institute policies related to the prevention, reporting, and investigation of sexual violence, “I wish I could go back, I wish I could have put more policies in. My job as CEO was to really run the operations; policies came from the board, and I’m not deflecting that back to the board, I was the CEO and I should have been encouraging more policies…it was something I would have liked to have done, I didn’t, and I’m sorry about that.”
Even after reports came to Hockey Canada, there are few records of the handling, including discussions between staff and board members, because almost all of those discussions occurred ‘in-camera’ where no meeting minutes were scribed.
“We didn’t handle it correctly because we took so much of it in-camera,” Nicholson said.
The concealment of information or deliberate misinformation and disinformation from those within hockey is becoming evident. The “culture of silence” has been discussed thoroughly in recent months. One issue is releasing victims, lawyers, witnesses, and employees from non-disclosure agreements that force the truth to stay buried.
“We must break the culture of silence in sport and I expect all national sport organizations to actively participate in that," Canada's minister of sport, Pascale St-Onge said.
Earlier in Hockey Canada’s hearings, the organization stated they would release anyone who wished from their NDAs. To date, that has not happened, an issue NDP MP Peter Julian called “profoundly disappointing.”
Hockey Canada’s scandal has renewed calls to ban NDAs in Canada, a move that experts assert would give voice to victims, and prevent powerful organizations from sweeping misdoings under the rug.
“The Hockey Canada story has illustrated the pervasiveness and the ubiquity of non-disclosure agreements in just pushing everything back under the rug again," said Julie Macfarlane, a law professor at the University of Windsor.
Knowing that NDAs remain in place related to Hockey Canada, the question begs, what stories do we not know? What wrongs are hidden?
Recently, I made several attempts to gain information on another sexual assault case in hockey, that of Lasse Uusivirta, who admitted to raping a fellow student while playing NCAA Division I hockey for the University of Alabama-Huntsville in 2013.
Both the University of Alabama-Huntsville, and the NCAA have stonewalled my requests for memos and documents pertaining to the events. The victim and her legal team are bound by NDAs. The truth is hidden just beneath the surface.
That truth involves what we already know about Uusivirta, but also a concealed element where a University of Alabama-Huntsville coach paid to cover Uusivirta’s $10,000 bond, freeing Uusivirta from Madison County Jail. Uusivirta then fled the United States, returning to his home country of Finland where he began his professional hockey career, never to face his charges or justice.
The coach who allegedly paid that bond went on to work within multiple NHL organizations, and an NDA has protected the details surrounding the case. The University of Alabama-Huntsville in particular denied multiple requests under the Alabama Open Records Act, one from myself, and one from an Alabama resident, to gain access to a memorandum the school sent to the NCAA in 2013 reporting a violation of Bylaw 16.11.2.3 by their hockey coach. This bylaw states “An institutional employee or representative of the institution’s athletics interests may not provide a student-athlete with extra benefits or services, including, but not limited to: 1. A loan of money; 2. A guarantee of bond; 3. The use of an automobile; or 4. Signing or cosigning a note with an outside agency to arrange a loan.”
Uusivirta’s case is rife with similar issues to Hockey Canada’s scandals. The validity and breadth of police investigations is another concern.
Following the victim’s report to police and the school, “Uusirvirta played in every UAH hockey game after the incident - including being in the starting lineup in the first game after being accused of raping another student and being involved in the university student disciplinary system.”
When the victim in Uusivirta’s case reported the crime, University of Alabama-Huntsville police allegedly “attempted to talk Ms. Doe out of doing anything about the attack by mentioning that ‘people who hang out at the hockey dorms share girls all the time’ and that it ‘was completely normal and okay to have sex with someone that [Doe] didn’t know.’”
The victim reportedly, while attempting to sleep, asked Uusivirta multiple times who he was, and in Uusivirta’s own words, “she seemed to be drunk and didn't know what was going on.”
Similar to Hockey Canada, non-disclosure agreements, in this case, are protecting not only the alleged perpetrator but those who allegedly aided and protected him and the institutions who allowed these actions of concealment to continue.
With non-disclosure agreements concealing the truth and protecting perpetrators, and with hockey’s unwillingness to keep these individuals out of the game, the task of ensuring hockey holds an ethical line is being placed on fans and the public. Recently this was seen in the case of the Boston Bruins signing and then parting ways with Mitchell Miller. It was also seen overseas this year when the Glasgow Clan announced the signing of Lasse Uusivirta himself, before quickly changing direction. The Clan, similar to the Bruins with Miller, knew about Uusivirta’s charge. The team has since replaced their general manager and was even put up for sale due to public backlash and a resulting loss of sponsors.
Both situations show a deeper issue in hockey; that even with the truth, violent behaviour is still acceptable. Recently, however, with the public and media holding organizations accountable, the truth has become a powerful agent of change in hockey. Eventually, with legislation restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements, more assailants and those who aid and abet them will be held accountable.
In Canada, Prince Edward Island recently became the first province to pass legislation on the use of NDAs, restricting their use in some circumstances, specifically in cases of harassment or discrimination. As the Canadian Lawyer Magazine explained, “The new law orders the use of NDAs only when it is “the expressed wish and preference of the relevant person concerned,” meaning someone who has experienced or made allegations about harassment or discrimination.”
Changing the culture within hockey is a step to breaking the silence. Policy and legislation, however, are also powerful tools. Without organizational policies related to the use of NDAs and requests for information, and without legislation banning powerful corporations and organizations from litigating NDAs, this silence will continue.
More voices in hockey are emerging and if the sport is ready there are undoubtedly more voices waiting to be heard, if they’re allowed...