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Globe and Mail
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Globe and Mail
In London, Ont., Hockey Canada sex-assault trial looms large over case's ground zero
Rich Pereira can't help but stay up to date with what's happening inside the nearby courthouse in London, Ont. The bartender at The Scot's Corner, a dimly lit pub a few blocks away, says he's constantly bombarded by sports broadcast on multiple TVs affixed to walls throughout the bar. Whenever the hosts flick to the news, coverage of the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial is inevitably a main feature. 'You see them talking from the courthouse and you're like, 'Wait, that's down the street,'' he said. Since late April, five former members of Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team have been on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in downtown London in June, 2018. The alleged events took place following a night of drinking and dancing at a local bar after a Hockey Canada celebration of their championship win. The men – Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote – have all pleaded not guilty. Mr. Pereira grew up in London. He describes the local junior hockey team, the London Knights, as an 'epicentre' of the town, emphasizing the importance of the sport to locals. When coverage of the trial comes on TV, he said the allegations always spark conversation among patrons at the bar. Mr. Pereira said he wishes he was more surprised upon learning of the assault that allegedly took place nearby. 'But it's London, we're a hockey town.' Knowledge of the sexual assault trial happening in their backyard was varied among locals on Friday, as news broke that the judge had dismissed a jury for the second time. The case is now proceeding by judge alone. Mike Angelstad, a back-of-house worker at The Church Key Bistro-Pub, just around the corner from The Scot's Corner, said many locals, including himself, were upset to learn of the allegations. But it's not a shock to him that the alleged events occurred in London, with its strong hockey culture and night life. 'We have this great bar scene in London that attracts young men, young women, and unfortunately, you mix those two with alcohol and sometimes things don't happen the way you think they should,' he said. Chatting with others around town, Mr. Angelstad said opinions are mixed on what the outcome of the trial should be. 'I think most of them are thinking about the woman, E.M., and expressing support for her. But I've also talked to a couple of people who still think Hockey Canada is on trial, and that it's not necessarily fair.' A short walk away from the pubs, Clara Romano works as a barista at Commonwealth Coffee. Outside of work, she studies arts and humanities at Western University, where posters about what defines sexual consent plaster the back of stall doors in women's washrooms across campus. She said she's had a lot of conversations about the trial with her female friends at university. Videos about it also often pop up on her TikTok. Down the street from the courthouse, Joelle Fugere, a student at Fanshawe College, works as a restaurant hostess at Moxies. She said she also talks about the case with her peers, including her best friend who is a criminology student at Western. She said it was 'a little scary' that the trial was going on mere steps away, and it was unnerving that the alleged incident being scrutinized by the court took place at a local hotel, the Delta Armoury, where she stayed only a few months ago. Emily Konrad, a bartender at the London Ale House, which is next door to Scot's, said he hasn't been paying much attention to the trial. Whatever the outcome is, she said she hopes it doesn't make it harder for other women to come forward in the future. 'If it's true that it shouldn't have happened, then you feel obviously horrible for the girl,' she said. The fact that the trial and the events it is probing unfolded in her hometown reflects concerns she has about the city. 'I do feel like London is just getting worse and worse,' she said, adding that allegations of sexual assault seem to be becoming more prevalent. James Wright, a business student at Western, said he's relieved that the case is being heard in court. As someone who's been playing hockey since he was young, he said it was disappointing to see how Hockey Canada handled the scandal. An initial police investigation into the incident was closed without charges in 2019, but three years later, TSN reported that Hockey Canada had quietly settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by the woman relating to that night without the players' knowledge. A Globe and Mail investigation then revealed the existence of the National Equity Fund, a special multimillion-dollar fund built through player registration fees that Hockey Canada has used to settle sexual-assault complaints. Mr. Wright said he hopes the attention being paid to this trial might help the sport shift away from its 'old boys club' mentality. Within his intramural hockey team, Mr. Wright's friends are also paying attention to the case. Ben Whalen, a fellow Western student and team member, said updates about the case are often sent throughout the team's group chat. 'We're following it for sure.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In the news today: Liberals win Quebec riding by one vote in recount
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Liberals win Quebec riding by one vote in recount With more recounts still to come, the Liberals are another seat closer to a majority government after a judicial recount saw them narrowly win the Quebec riding of Terrebonne. A judicial recount of the riding north of Montreal saw the Liberals win the the riding by one vote and now gives them 170 seats in Parliament. The announcement comes as more recounts are underway, including two in Ontario. One of those ridings is Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, where a judicial recount was granted after incumbent Liberal Irek Kusmierczyk argued several ballots were "wrongly rejected" after validation showed he lost to Conservative challenger Kathy Borrelli by 77 votes. The other Ontario seat, located in the Greater Toronto area, has Kristina Tesser Derksen is ahead of Conservative Parm Gill by 29 votes in Milton East—Halton Hills South. An automatic recount there will happen May 13. Here's what else we're watching... Hockey players' sexual assault trial continues Defence lawyers in the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team are expected to continue cross-examining the complainant today. The woman, who cannot be identified under a publication ban, first took the stand on May 2 and spent most of last week facing questions from the defence. On Friday, she pushed back against a defence suggestion that she was embarrassed and ashamed for the choices she'd made the night of the alleged incident. She said she made the choice to drink and dance at the London, Ont., bar where she first met some of the accused, not to "have them do what they did back at the hotel." Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in connection with an encounter that took place at the Delta hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018. Ontario hospitals spent $9B on agencies: study Ontario hospitals spent more than $9 billion on nurses and other staff from for-profit agencies in a 10-year period, a new study concludes. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study, released Monday, examined financial statements for 134 Ontario hospital corporations as well as data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. It found that from 2013-14 to 2022-23 public hospital spending on staff increased six per cent, but their spending on private agencies increased 98 per cent. Study author Andrew Longhurst also found that while the number of hours worked by agency staff in Ontario hospitals accounted for 0.4 per cent of all front-line worker hours in 2022-23, six per cent of hospitals' labour costs went toward the private staff. Hospitals turn to staffing agencies for qualified workers that can fill shifts on a temporary basis, but agencies charge double or even triple the regular hourly rate for their staff and hospitals want to reduce their reliance on them. Skydiving instructor dies in Alberta: RCMP RCMP say a skydiver has died in a weekend accident west of Edmonton. Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said police were called to a township road near Onoway on Saturday morning, where he said a 56-year-old man from Edmonton suffered fatal injuries following a jump from a plane. He said the man was a skydiving instructor. Skydiving West Edmonton said in a statement that an "experienced skydiver" succumbed to his injuries as a result of "a high-speed malfunction" on Saturday morning. At this point Savinkoff said the death appears to have been an accident and does not appear suspicious, but he said RCMP, workplace safety officials and the Chief Medical Examiner's Office continue to investigate. Leafs waste Woll's performance in Game 4 loss Joseph Woll did everything he could to hold the line. The Maple Leafs goaltender stretched, contorted and sprawled to make save after save against the Panthers' onslaught. His teammates weren't close to that level. Woll stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced Sunday in Toronto's stifling 2-0 loss to Florida that evened the teams' second-round playoff series 2-2. The Leafs, who fell 5-4 in overtime two nights earlier, again had a chance to push the defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink, but instead were second-best most of the night — other than their netminder. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025, The Canadian Press
