Hockey Canada begins steps to repairing reputation

Photo: The Canadian Press

Hockey Canada, aiming to regain the trust of Canadians, change its culture and address systemic issues, has made the first wave of changes to address former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell interim recommendations.

Hockey Canada and its members passed bylaw changes on Saturday in advance of the organization's new board of directors election next month.

The changes come following recommendations from former Mr. Cromwell to ensure the nomination process for the Hockey Canada board of directors "is in line with best practices."

The amendments, which take effect immediately, include:

• All applications for Hockey Canada board of directors positions, including the Chair, will be reviewed and vetted by the independent nominating committee. No names will be added to the voting ballot without the committee’s approval.
• The new board of directors will serve a one-year term as a transition board rather than the standard two years. The transition board will be focused on accomplishing key urgent tasks that need to be accomplished in the short term.
• The deadline for applications to be submitted to the nominating committee will be Nov. 10. This allows additional time for the nominating committee to engage a third-party recruiting firm to help with the vetting process and due diligence.

Given the change in timing for application submission, materials related to the nomination process will be provided to the members by Nov. 28.

 "We look forward to providing further public updates in relation to future progress as we work to regain the trust of Canadians and address systemic issues in and around Canada’s game," Hockey Canada said in the statement.