Hockey Canada is reporting members of the 2003 men’s World Junior Hockey Team have been accused of a group sexual assault.
It released a statement on Friday saying it has reached out to Halifax Regional Police regarding the men’s team. Halifax was the co-host city in 2003.
The national sports organization says it learned of the alleged incident after being contacted by TSN reporter Rick Westhead looking for comment after several witnesses provided “explicit descriptions of an assault.”
“The details in Mr. Westhead’s email were deeply disturbing and Hockey Canada immediately contacted Halifax Regional Police, as Halifax was the co-host city of the 2003 IIHF World Junior Championship, and also notified Sport Canada of the information shared with us,” the statement says. “We have urged Mr. Westhead to immediately speak with police and to encourage his sources to do the same.”
It was Westhead’s reporting which exposed a settlement lawsuit about an alleged group sexual assault in June 2018. A woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by eight CHL players in London Ontario, at a Hockey Canada golf event. Some of the accused players represented Canada at the WJHC that year.
Those allegations came to light in May. That resulted in the organization losing government funding and shedding big-name sponsors like Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons and Telus.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Hockey Canada during an announcement in Nova Scotia on Thursday saying there needs to be a real reckoning with the behaviour Canadians saw.
“I think there’s a lot more that Hockey Canada is going to have to do before Canadian parents like me start trusting them.”
The organization has confirmed staff heard a rumour about “something bad at the 2003 World Juniors.” The information was reported to Sport Canada. Hockey Canada hired an investigator to try to find out more. It says they didn’t get the details before the reporter reached out to them.
Hockey Canada is urging anyone with information on the incident to come forward and is calling on the police to open an investigation.
“Hockey Canada is committed to bringing an end to the culture of silence in hockey. That is why we are publicly calling for anyone with knowledge of this incident to come forward to police, and we are being transparent in how we learned of this alleged assault and the steps we are taking to address it.”
Halifax Police spokesperson Cst. John MacLeod has issued a statement to our newsroom. He says they will carry out a thorough investigation.
“I can confirm that late last night, we received a report related to a historical sexual assault that is alleged to have occurred in Halifax in 2003,: the statement says. “It is not our practice to provide information in relation to individuals involved in investigations unless charges have been laid and sworn before the courts. We take all matters of this nature very seriously and will be conducting a thorough investigation.”
The 2023 World Juniors are scheduled to be played in Halifax and Moncton.
**With files from Huddle’s Derek Montague. Huddle Today Limited and Acadia Broadcasting Limited are each part of the Ocean Capital Group.**
