Report: Andrea Skinner, Interim President of Hockey Canada, resigns

Hockey Canada’s interim board chair Andrea Skinner has tendered her resignation, reports TSN’s Rick Westhead.

Confirmed that Hockey Canada’s Interim Chair of the Board, Andrea Skinner, has tendered her resignation.

—Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 9, 2022

« …Upon reflection, it is clear from recent events that it no longer makes sense for me to continue volunteering as interim president or as director of the organization… » Skinner said in a statement, as reported by Westhead on Saturday. night.

The news comes almost two months to the day after Skinner was named interim president. Skinner was the first woman to lead Hockey Canada, replacing Michael Brind’Amour, who resigned earlier in August. His appointment and Brind’Amour’s resignation were reactionary moves by hockey’s governing body following revelations of its failures to investigate sexual assault allegations involving members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team. which resulted in a lawsuit that Hockey Canada settled with the unnamed victim in May.

At the time of Skinner’s hiring, Hockey Canada defended Skinner’s appointment as a step toward « inclusion and making the game accessible to all Canadians, » an attempt to change the nation’s damaged opinion of the organization. But Skinner and Brind’Amour’s testimony before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage last week doubled down on denial, defending the existing establishment and insisting that no change was needed at the leadership level – despite revelations that Hockey Canada had set up several funds, using registration fees, for use in settling lawsuits that could include sexual assault allegations.

Skinner said in his testimony this week that the removal of current leaders “would have a very negative impact on our boys and girls who play hockey. Will the lights stay on in the rink? I do not know. We can’t predict that, and to me it’s not a risk worth taking.

In the days following Skinner’s testimony, the fallout was significant. Several provincial hockey organizations, from the Ontario Hockey Federation to Hockey New Brunswick, have agreed to withhold Hockey Canada registration fees. Several major sponsors, from Canadian Tire to Tim Hortons to Nike, have dropped out of Hockey Canada. Even Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speculated that Hockey Canada might have to disappear and be reborn as « Canada Hockey, » a brand new organization.

Skinner’s term was due to expire in November, as she inherited the end of Brind’Amour’s term. She was first appointed to the board in November 2020.