Hockey Canada Interim Chair Resigns Due To Sexual Assault Scandal Pressure

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Andrea Skinner

Summary

  • Hockey Canada Interim Chair Andrea Skinner tenders resignation 
  • Member of Parliament calls for more Hockey Canada leaders to resign
  • Hockey Canada continues to lose sponsorship and funding as Nike drops out

Hockey Canada continues to face growing pressure across the country and in the local media due to its handling and cover-up of multiple sexual assault charges over the years.

Hockey Canada has vowed to change its culture and make changes to its existing policies to ensure similar instances don’t occur again, the Canadian government and hockey loving public have not been impressed with Hockey Canada’s response.

Hockey Canada Interim Chair Tenders Resignation 

There have been calls for the last two months for the senior leadership at Hockey Canada to resign as multiple stakeholders have claimed that it is hard to expect any real serious change in Hockey Canada when the same leadership team is at the helm. While the pressure mounted for the senior leadership team to resign, the top leaders in the organization continued in their position.

Now Hockey Canada Interim Chair Andrea Skinner has decided to step down. Skinner released a statement and said that she joined Hockey Canada back in Nov 2020 as a volunteer with the objective to make the sport a more welcoming, inclusive and safe sport. Skinner said the way things have played out in the last few months, made her realize that there was no point in her continuing as the director or interim chair for Hockey Canada and it was best for her to step down immediately.

Sébastien Lemire, a Bloc-Quebecois MP was happy to see Skinner resign from her position and took to Twitter to say that Skinner’s departure was for the good of all. The Canadian MP also called for Hockey Canada to continue to clean up its leadership team.

Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith is under a lot of pressure now to resign and follow Skinner. Smith’s position is a lot different to Skinner as Smith is paid by Hockey Canada and if he does resign, he will have to work out a severance package with the organization.

Nike Drops Hockey Canada From Sponsorship List

Hockey Canada has already lost a number of key sponsors in the last couple of weeks which includes Scotiabank, Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire. Nike has now become the latest sponsor to drop Hockey Canada and there could be more before the end of the month. 

Author Noah is our American writer who likes to give his own spin on everything Golf & the NHL he covers mainly the US side of the game as Doug covers the Canada. In his time off he can usually be taking to the greens or on the ice playing some hockey