Brantford Expositor Article by Brian Smiley
Serious Allegations of Bullying in Minor Hockey Being Investigated
BMHA explains complaint process after social media storm
A social media storm has taken hold regarding a serious situation within the Brantford Minor Hockey Association, a situation the organization says is being dealt with through a mandated process.
A disturbing string of messages that involves bullying and mentions acts of violence amongst players was recently posted to social media, resulting in thousands of comments, reactions and shares across various platforms.
While the utmost concern is for those involved, there has been a tremendous amount of criticism levelled at the BMHA for its handling of the situation.
“The board is here and Brantford Minor Hockey is here to make sure hockey is a safe place for all children to come and play,” said Corey Waring, the organization’s president. “That’s our end goal to make sure it’s safe for everybody.”
With regard to the particular incident in question, Waring said it’s important for people to understand there are procedures that needed to be followed.
While most complaints within the organization are sent directly to BMHA and then handled by those within the organization, certain issues must be handled outside.
Waring said the Ontario Hockey Federation recommends that any maltreatment, bullying or harassment complaints go though a Safe Sport tab – located on individual organization’s websites or on the Hockey Canada website – which is what happened with this complaint.
Once a complaint is issued through the Safe Sport tab, it is out of the local organization’s hands.
“Even if we get them in-house, we’re to escalate them to a higher level,” Waring said. “That’s the process we’re advised to take and that takes the association right out of it.”
Waring said the reason for that is straightforward. Almost all minor sports organizations consist of board members who are not experts in certain fields that need expertise. It’s much better to have those issues with more severity looked at by people who are more knowledgeable.
“We’re all volunteers,” said Waring. “We don’t have the expertise that the Safe Sport people have. They have the ability to deal with how big of a complaint these things can be.
“Their knowledge is well above the volunteers.”
Once a complaint is lodged through Safe Sport, it is then taken out of the hands of local organizations, the OHF and Hockey Canada. An investigation is initiated by an Independent Third Party (ITP), a fully independent group of experts appointed to administer all of Hockey Canada’s maltreatment complaints.
The ITP then determines what action to take with each complaint, which can lead to a longer investigation. The ITP does not investigate or adjudicate complaints, hiring external people to do those things, but ensures they are processed in a confidential, neutral and procedurally fair manner.
According to a report prepared by Plaintes Sport Complaints (
https://tinyurl.com/3cpy3hm8) it can take an average of between 113 to 136 days for a file to be open and investigated since interviews are normally done with all involved.
“When a complaint has been accepted by the ITP, the Hockey Canada Maltreatment Complaint Management Policy enables the ITP to impose interim sanctions if deemed necessary,” Hockey Canada Communications Chief of Staff Jeremy Knight said in an email.
“The Hockey Canada Maltreatment Complaint Management Policy is routinely reviewed to ensure that it remains victim-centred and that the ITP is using trauma-informed processes. In addition, as part of that work and guided by industry best practices, there are periodic independent reviews of the ITP to ensure that the process operates with the high ethical standards that our participants and Canadians expect.”
Waring said letting the ITP do its job is of utmost importance.
“We have to believe in the process,” he said.
“The process is what Hockey Canada, OHF, ITP and Safe Sport, they believe this is the best process for these types of complaints. We have to follow that process.
“It would be awesome if associations could step in and do something but we don’t even get acknowledgement of the complaint. We are not allowed as an association to overstep and step in and do an investigation of the incident or a complaint that is sent through Safe Sport.
“We really have to rely on them to do the proper procedure. It’s unfortunate it takes the time it does but ITP deals with complaints all across Canada.”
Waring said that all complaints received by the BMHA, OHF and Hockey Canada are taken seriously and policies and procedures are followed that are specific to each one.
He said that everyone involved wants to make each organization stronger and safer and he is hopeful that people will be patient and wait for the process in this latest situation to reach a resolution.
“Brantford Minor Hockey is here for the safety of everybody involved,” he said.
“We do have to follow policies and procedures. Hockey Canada and Safe Sport is the process we followed in this situation, which is how we are directed.
“We can’t overstep as an organization and do our own investigation when it goes through the ITP/Safe Sport process. We have to wait for their decision.”
For more information on any of the processes involved, visit
www.brantfordminorhockey.com or
www.hockeycanada.ca and click on the appropriate Safe Sport or complaint process links or tabs.