Hockey Canada resignations 'overdue' says Halifax Mayor Mike Savage

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage has pushed aside any speculation about Halifax and Moncton pulling out of their commitment to host the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship.

“I don’t think it will be feasible to move the world juniors at this point in time,” said Savage.

He says Tuesday’s announcement that Hockey Canada’s CEO and board of directors would step down in the wake of the organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations, was a positive turning point, calling the move “overdue” in an interview with CTV News Tuesday.

“A significant change happened yesterday,” said Savage. “That gives us the opportunity to go ahead and do this event here. We’ve done it before and we will do a great job.”

When the World Junior Hockey Championship was last held in Halifax 20 years ago, Chris Larsen was the event manager. Larsen had doubts the tournament could’ve been pulled at this late of a date.

“There was not enough runway left for Hockey Canada to find another place for it,” Larsen told CTV News Wednesday. “Nor another willing partner.”

Halifax Regional Municipality Councillor Tony Mancini maintains Hockey Canada‘s handling of the scandal requires continued close examination and scrutiny. However, he agrees the event itself is too big to walk away from.

“We just got through two years of a pandemic,” said Mancini. “Downtown businesses, restaurants and hotels, boutique shops, our restaurants and bars have been hammered.”

Mancini said thousands of hotel rooms have been booked and the economic boost for both Halifax and Moncton could reach more than $50 million combined.

Larsen said, amidst all the negativity surrounding Hockey Canada, both cities can now attempt to re-focus their attention on the positivity of the sporting event, not the scandal.

“Bring people back together and making them feel good about themselves,” said Larsen. “And giving them a reason to be proud of the communities.”

The Hockey Canada controversy stretches back to May of this year when TSN first reported that Hockey Canada had reached an undisclosed settlement with a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted in London, Ont., by several members of the Canadian world junior hockey team, in 2018.

In June, the federal government froze its funding to Hockey Canada and ordered a financial audit. That month, federal politicians began examining Hockey Canada's handling of alleged sexual assaults and lawsuit pay-outs.

It was then revealed by The Canadian Press in July that the organization's "National Equity Fund" partly bolstered by minor hockey registration fees was used to pay for "uninsured liabilities," such as sexual abuse claims, a practice the organization later confirmed it was halting.

Days later, another allegation of group sexual assault surfaced involving members of the Canadian world junior hockey team in 2003. While police and NHL investigations are underway, the allegations have not been proven in court.

With files from CTVNews.ca