Hockey Canada has paid out nine settlements from its National Equity Fund, totalling $7.6 million since 1989, the organization’s chief financial officer said on Wednesday. “Out of the National Equity Fund, nine settlement payments have been made totalling $7.6 million,” confirmed Brian Cairo, speaking at a heritage committee meeting on Wednesday.
He added that $6.8 million of that total was related to Graham James, a former Canadian junior ice hockey coach who plead guilty to two counts of sexual assault in 1997.
Uninsured settled claims make up another $1.3 million of the payouts, $1 million of which resulted from four incidents from a single perpetrator. Read more: Sport Canada was aware of Hockey Canada allegations in 2018, but didn’t tell minister The organization also used the fund to pay for third-party investigator Henein Hutchison LLP to look into a 2018 group sexual assault allegation, according to Cairo.
That payment totalled $287,000. The fund is generated in part by children’s registration fees. Reports surfaced last week that Hockey Canada maintained a fund that drew on membership fees to pay for uninsured liabilities — including sexual abuse claims.