Canada's top women hockey players say there's much to do to clean up toxic behaviour

Players on Canada's senior women's hockey teams are demanding a "thorough and transparent investigation" into recent allegations of sexual assault involving Hockey Canada teams, and say the organization has a lot to do to address "toxic behaviour" in the sport.

The players from Canada's most recent Olympic and world championship teams posted an open letter to Hockey Canada's executives and board of governors Monday on the eve of a second round of parliamentary hearings into the organization's handling of sexual assault complaints.

"We join all Canadians in demanding a thorough and transparent investigation of the incidents in question, as well as the structure, governance and environment that exists within [Hockey Canada]," the letter read.

"Once the whole truth is out, Hockey Canada and its elected board must ensure that all steps are taken and appropriate measures are put in place to ensure that this kind of behaviour is never again accepted, and never repeated."

The letter was published after Hockey Canada released on Monday a plan to combat the "toxic" culture in its sport.

The plan includes the implementation by the end of September of a centralized tracking and reporting system for abuse complaints. It said the results will be published annually to "hold Hockey Canada accountable."

The organization will publish an annual social responsibility report, which will include information on complaints received at both the national team and subnational levels and a scorecard based on "key performance indicators." Hockey Canada said it was in the process of identifying the measures to be included in the scorecard.

Hockey Canada did not say what data on the complaints will be made public in the report, but historical allegations of sexual assault will not be included.

Hockey Canada also says it will implement enhanced screening for high-performance players — "considering their behaviour and track record outside of their time with Hockey Canada and outside of the rink." It will mandate that breaching the organization's code of conduct or refusing to participate in an investigation could result in a lifetime ban.

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The women, in their letter, said they were "encouraged" by the action plan, but added it was only "a step toward addressing toxic behaviours."

"There is much more work and action needed to fully address the underlying issues in order to ensure a new Hockey Canada emerges from this crisis."

The measures outlined Monday are in addition to those announced by Hockey Canada in a July 14 open letter, which came amid intense criticism for the organization's handling of a sexual assault allegation involving eight players, and settlement of an ensuing lawsuit, following a 2018 gala in London, Ont. A second sexual assault allegation involving the Canadian team participating at the 2003 junior championship in Halifax surfaced on Friday.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.