Nearly 60% of Canadians doubt Hockey Canada's plans to tackle sexual abuse: survey

Hockey Canada skating on thin ice for public confidence in their pledge to correct a culture of sexual abuse and harassment in the sport. Yes, new research data suggests.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said in an online survey released Wednesday morning by the Angus Reid Institute I replied that I was not confident in my plan of action. Within hockey, including how people within the sport treat women and girls.

Women show the strongest skepticism, with 62% of respondents not confident about Hockey Canada's plans. 53% of men said the same.

"That's a fair amount of skepticism. If anything, Canadian hockey isn't just on top of a cultural issue; it's also on top of a pretty significant trust issue. It's possible that we're doing it," said Shachi Kurl, director of the Angus Reid Institute, in an interview with Global News.

"It's Profound."

Read More: Sexual abuse 'platform of silence' persists in Canadian sports, says former league head

August 8 to August 10 An online survey to date asked a randomized sample of 2,279 Canadian adults about their views on hockey culture and Hockey Canada's response to allegations of sexual assault against some players.

It is not possible to assign an exact margin of error to online surveys, but for relatively large polls the margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points, or 19 out of 20. said the Angus Reed Institute.

Hockey Canada continues to be embroiled in a national scandal over its handling of sexual assault allegations against some players, including members of the 2003 and 2018 World Junior Championship teams. In the latter matter, the organization settled a civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault against a young woman by eight of her players in London, Ontario.

TSN he first reported the settlement in May.

READ MORE: Hockey Canada seeks to 'bail out' world juniors amid scandal and low ticket sales

A few months later, Hockey Canada was embroiled in scrutiny. His focus on the issue includes three parliamentary committees, a federal sports minister's order to freeze funds, a financial audit, a new criminal investigation by London, Ontario police, and an NHL investigation.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is also increasingly investigating Hockey Canada for its handling of sexual assault allegations. It is one of a growing number of public institutions.

Hockey Canada lost several major sponsors of the World Junior Tournament, including Tim Hortons, Terrace, Canadian Tires and Scotiabank, and faced a rebellion from provincial hockey organizations that vowed to withhold funding. did. The chairman of the board has left, but Scott Smith remains president.

Former Supreme Court Justice Thomas Cromwell is leading his review of governance scheduled for November.

It remains unclear whether Smith will remain in the position after that review.

Meanwhile, Canadian parents are outraged. In particular, for the discovery that registration fees paid by parents for their children were used to fund slush funds paid to allegations of sexual assault. Play what Stompin' Tom Connors once called "the good old hockey game."

Of those who participated in the survey, 56% said they had a connection to youth hockey. For example, you personally play youth hockey, have a family member who does, or go to youth hockey as an extended family of the player.

A clear majority of respondents, both inside and outside the world of youth hockey, reported sexual harassment and sexual assault in sports. described as a “serious problem”. — something that happens all the time.

However, the extent to which respondents assessed the prevalence of the issue indicated a range of views, including a range of political views, and the number of individuals who voted Conservative in the last election. 42% of them described it as: This is a big deal compared to 69% of Liberals, 72% of NDP voters and 70% of Bloc Quebec supporters.

61% of respondents unrelated to youth hockey and 56% of respondents related to youth hockey said sexual harassment and sexual assault in the sport was a major problem. Agreed.

Among those connected with sport, 73% of women over the age of 55 agreed that sport was a major issue. From age 35, 63% of women aged 54 said the same, and from age 18, 53% of women aged 34 said the same. 42% of men aged 18-34 said sexual harassment and assault in youth hockey is a major problem, compared to 46% of men aged 35-54 and 59% of men aged 20+ 55.

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Majority of respondents reported sexual harassment regardless of their personal connection to youth hockey The fact that they view sexual abuse and sexual abuse as a serious problem is anomalous, Carl suggested. So that's what really stands out... It happens all the time," she said.

"This goes beyond youth hockey."

63% of all respondents clearly say Hockey Canada needs new senior leaders .

At the same time, 84% of respondents said sexual harassment and assault are broader issues that need to be addressed across sports culture, not just hockey.

The latter point appears to reflect concerns that Brenda Andress, who has served as Commissioner of the Canadian Women's Hockey League for 12 years, raised in her News Global earlier this month.

"As long as I've been in the sport, there's been a rule of silence. There's a culture we've created, but most of us don't think we can handle the truth." "It's really happening in our sporting world," said Andrés.

It's time to do it.”

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