Scotiabank, TELUS and Canadian Tire all pull out of Hockey Canada funding

The fallout for Hockey Canada's neglect in 2018 sexual assault allegations continues.

In case you haven't been keeping up with the scandal, Hockey Canada is reeling after they a woman filed a lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court alleging that she was sexually assaulted by eight CHL players, some of whom were part of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors roster. Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit last year and has refused to release the names of any of the guilty parties. Critics say, rightly so in my opinion, that this absolves the guilty parties of any wrongdoing. They essentially get off scot free with assaulting a woman and they get to carry on with their lucrative careers. That hardly seems just.

As a result, a large number of prominent Hockey Canada sponsors are pulling their support for the organization until wide-scale changes are made in how they address these types of allegations. Among the big name sponsors pulling their financial support are Scotiabank, TELUS and Canadian Tire. It's believed that ESSO may follow suit in short order, as well.

“Hockey Canada values our relationship with Scotiabank, and we both respect and understand their decision regarding their sponsorship," a statement from Hockey Canada read earlier this week. "As we said to the Members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage last week, Hockey Canada is on a journey to change the culture of our sport and to make it safer and more inclusive, both at the rink and in our communities. We have been on this journey for some time, but we agree that more needs to be done, and more quickly. This is a priority for our organization’s leaders, and with the work we are doing, and the changes we are planning, our intention is to ensure that Hockey Canada meets the standards that our many stakeholders have for us. Canadians will be hearing more about our actions in this regard.”

As for Canadian Tire, they've officially pulled funding from this summer's re-vamped World Junior Championships and there's some serious concern amongst hockey fans at Hockey Canada's capability to run the tournament given its reduced operating budget now. Stay tuned.