Opinion: Hockey Canada risks permanently chasing away corporate sponsors with its governance mess

Hockey Canada keeps on stepping in it.

Already embroiled in a scandal over its settlements of sexual-assault allegations, the national governing body for hockey is at the centre of yet another controversy.

This time, it’s over a survey Hockey Canada commissioned for its members to solicit feedback about its crisis management – including their views on whether the organization faces excessive backlash for using a multimillion-dollar fund of registration fees to resolve misconduct claims made against players.

Specifically, the survey tried to gauge the extent to which Hockey Canada’s members, such as parents and coaches, concurred with various statements including: “The level of criticism by the media toward Hockey Canada is overblown” and “Incidents such as this are unlikely to happen again,” CBC News reported.

Yes, you read that correctly, folks. But, wait, it gets a whole lot worse.

The survey also asked respondents about the importance of installing new leadership, offering an apology and discontinuing “the use of membership fees to cover uninsured sexual misconduct claims,” according to Sportsnet.

For this they needed a survey? Good grief.

Hockey Canada’s strategy of deflecting serves no one but its disgraced leadership

Hockey Canada approached sponsors about ousting some of its top officials

It’s unfathomable that Hockey Canada’s executive team and its board of directors still haven’t resigned en masse. Their intransigence, especially that of chief executive officer Scott Smith, is further imperilling the organization.

Faulty governance has morphed into an existential threat. Not only has Hockey Canada lost the trust of ordinary Canadians, this latest blunder has renewed the reputational risk for the organization’s corporate sponsors – major companies that provide a sizable amount of its funding each year.

Companies including Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Tire, Esso, Tim Hortons and Telus Corp. rightly suspended their support months ago. But the longer that Hockey Canada’s governance mess festers, the greater the risk those corporate dollars could disappear for good.

It’s no small chunk of change. Business development and partnerships comprise 43 per cent of Hockey Canada’s annual funding, according to its latest annual report.

Corporate sponsors, however, are facing a conundrum. They want to be seen as supporting women’s hockey and Paralympic players. Trouble is, Hockey Canada has become kryptonite because of these…