“No further comment while the investigation is ongoing.”
The institution of Hockey and the power of silence
TW: sexual violence
Over the past few weeks, Hockey Canada has had to answer questions regarding a multi-million dollar lawsuit settlement to a young woman who was allegedly victimized by eight men at an organization-sponsored event.
Given that the organizations received funding from the federal government, the outrage was monumental and led to a call from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Three of Hockey Canada’s top executives answered questions with audacity and unpreparedness that can only be seen from white men in power. It did not go well for them.
By June 22, the government of Canada announced that they would be pausing their funding. Their sponsors, including Canadian Tire, Scotiabank and Tim Hortons, quickly followed suit. The reaction was brutal enough that Hockey Canada released an open letter to Canadians, acknowledging perhaps for the first time, that there was a toxic culture within the sport and that they would be reopening the investigation. As the walls quickly began to close on the team members, players started to release statements denying their involvement while the lawyers for the accused began engaging in a smear campaign.
We have heard repeatedly that the toxic culture within hockey needs to change. Yet, close to three decades later, after one of the first significant scandals of sexual violence in hockey, we again find ourselves witnessing the fallout of a horrific crime committed to vulnerable people by “upstanding” hockey men.
For every revelation of heinous behavior, there’s a new remix of PR’s greatest hits such as “this can never happen again” or “there’s no place for this in our sport,” or our favourite, “no further public comment while the investigation is ongoing.”
To understand the repetitive nature of these scandals, we first must understand what hockey is, not just hockey as the sport but Hockey - with a capital H - as a total institution. Total institutions are defined as closed social systems that build out and enforce their cultural norms and rules that typically exist outside of broader society. The people within these closed systems tend to share similarities or are resocialized to fit in. This concept is generally applied to places like the military or prisons. While it may seem odd to apply to a sport, hockey has a unique and insular culture that is often self-regulating (think The Code when it comes to fighting) and exclusionary. In this sport, the institution encompasses all those who participate or make up the culture, including the governing bodies like Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the NHL.
Viewing Hockey as a total institution is to acknowledge that the institution - and those who run it - will do anything to maintain the illusion that it is not dysfunctional. Hockey, and in this case, Hockey Canada, will always seek to protect the image and mythos built around the sport. To do so, they wield tools that most of us have heard of. Its ethnocentrism, the demand for conformity, and propensity to Other(ness) its most marginalized and vulnerable members all function as methods to establish control and power over its members.
However, the culture of silence in which they hide away violence has always been one of the most powerful tools in their arsenal. For every major case, a dozen “minor” incidents predicate it. Cases of violence that are only glanced at or ignored grow the expectation that the next one will also fade away. In turn, it makes it easier for them to never question the necessity for change, so every time something grievous happens, we get stuck in the same outrage cycle.
Laura Robinson explored this concept in her seminal work on sexual violence, Crossing The Line, citing sociologist Sandi Kirby:
“Total institutions, if they are strong enough, can ignore all the major issues of our time, including human rights, globalization, workers’ rights, free enterprise, the rise of liberal democracy, and the rise of the ethic of care in sport. It is only when complaints reach the public and are too serious or too numerous to be ‘buried’ that total institutions are forced to examine their fundamental practices and values”
The quote aptly describes where we’re currently at - at the apex of the scandal, where it’s too big and too severe to ignore. This is the point in the cycle where the institution can no longer ignore the demand for change.
However, change on a meaningful scale is beyond just an internal investigation or a commitment to “fixing” hockey’s toxic culture. These are not one-off situations where one organization like Hockey Canada acted shamefully or on its own. This behavior is a functional part of maintaining the institution; therefore, one cannot expect or trust those within it to address these issues adequately. They will always resort to the systems and strategies put in place. The settlements and NDAs victims have to sign are a testament to that.
The reality is that we don’t know what it takes to create profound and genuine systemic change. Even when there is enough external pressure from powerful entities like their sponsors, there’s never any guarantee that any of it will be sustainable. For example, Hockey Canada could fire every single one of its current executives. Still, its board of directors and nominating committee are made up of the same type of people, just packaged differently.
As bleak as this may all seem, though, we see a semblance of justice. It is incredibly difficult to see the worst day of someone’s life be played out in public and in such graphic detail, but there is hope in the rage that has not let this fade away.
As we continue to follow the upcoming hearings and investigations, we want to see a move towards a reality in which we don’t have to wait until a woman is brutalized for us to reopen these conversations.
With the worst wishes to all those involved,
Gaby & Perrye