Ottawa/IBNS: The funding to Hockey Canada is being restored by the federal government, which says the organization must fulfil several conditions in exchange for the financial support.

“While federal financing is only a fraction of Hockey Canada’s revenues, I wish to reiterate that our funding is not a blank cheque,” said Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge in a letter addressed to Hugh Fraser, Hockey Canada’s board chair.

“Hockey Canada also must tackle issues regarding safe sport, such as the toxic behaviours, the trivialization of sexual violence and the culture of silence, which has too often made the headlines,” St-Onge wrote, “There is no reason why such situations should continue to plague hockey or any other sport.”

Hockey Canada has been entangled in controversy since May 2022 when it reached a settlement with a young woman who allegedly wassexually assaulted in London, Ont. in 2018 by eight Canadian Hockey League (CHL) hockey players, including members of the World Junior team.

In a statement released Sunday by Hockey Canada, Fraser said the government’s announcement represented “an important milestone for Hockey Canada in our journey to earn and maintain the trust of Canadians.”

“While I would like to thank Minister St-Onge and the government for their vote of confidence and for their ongoing efforts to prioritize safe sport in Canada, I also wish to stress that we still have work to do to change the culture of our sport,” Fraser said in the statement.

The funding is conditional on the organization meeting several expectations,  St-Onge said and added the government needs to be updated by the organization on their work on changing the culture of hockey, implement recommendations from two reports as well as promoting the government’s safe sport program for athletes and member organizations.

“I appreciate the steps taken thus far by the organization as we work to rebuild the culture of hockey in Canada,” St-Onge reportedly wrote.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)