Hockey Canada Confirms Entire Board Including CEO Will Step Aside

Summary

• Hockey Canada confirms entire executive board will step down
• CEO Scott Smith who held on to his post will also resign
• Hockey Canada will now look to form new board and hire new CEO

Andrea Skinner, the interim chair of Hockey Canada decided to resign only a few days back due to the continuous pressure imposed by the media in Canada and Hockey Canada sponsors over the organizations mishandling of the sexual allegations lawsuit that it tried to cover up.

When Skinner resigned, CEO Scott Smith did held on to his role even though there were calls for him to follow Skinner.

Hockey Canada Board Resigns Including Smith

Smith was initially keen on keeping his post and helping Hockey Canada get through this difficult phase. However, the Canadian government, general public and Hockey Canada sponsors claimed that Hockey Canada would struggle to go forward, implement new policies and change its current environment with old leaders at the helm.

Multiple Hockey Canada sponsors cut ties with the organization as the CEO Scott Smith and the executive board continued to hold on to their posts. The continuous pressure and the loss of key sponsors have now forced CEO Smith and the entire Hockey Canada board to tend in their resignations.

Hockey Canada has confirmed that the entire board along with CEO Smith will resign. Board members (pictured) Goops Wooldridge, Terry Engen, Kirk Lamb, Mary Anne Veroba, John Neville, Barry Reynard, Bobby Sahni will no longer play any role or make decisions for the organization. 

Hockey Canada is now set to hold a virtual election to form a new board on Dec 17. None of the existing board members will stand in the new election.

Canada’s Sports Minister Says Right Decision Made

Pascale St-Onge, sports minister for Canada released a statement and said the right decision was made by Hockey Canada. St-Onge was very vocal from the start about having Hockey Canada go through a huge clean-up operation so that the organization could start fresh and ensure nothing like this ever happens again.

St-Onge said that Canadians across the country had lost faith in Canadian hockey in the last couple of months. The resignations of all board members and CEO Smith is the first step in rebuilding the trust between Hockey Canada and the general public. St-Onge said the new board must be made up of individuals who are committed to making real change!