This week, we’re trying something new. Introducing The Defendants: Case Files
A new monthly series where Jane and her friend Anuja, a human rights expert, are going to look into a specific case that caught our attention, and ignited conversation. We’re going to discuss what happened, and why it played out that way, and what we think that can tell us about not just the justice system, but about us, and how our reactions contribute to the problem.
The aim of the series is to continue conversations around how culture, and the justice system responds to Sexual Assault cases - especially those that have dominated headlines. It’s our way of helping listeners build upon their understanding of the system and all the factors at play, as broken down by the first 6 episodes of The Defendants series.
First up, the case we’ve been asked about the most over the last year. Hockey Canada
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Show Notes
Get in Touch!
If you have questions or ideas about the show we’d love to hear them!
Email us at defendantspodoutreach@protonmail.com
You can also find us on instagram: we’re @thedefendantspodcast and Jane is @jane_aster_roe
If you want Jane to appear on your show, email Dalton Higgins at daltonhiggins@gmail.com.
Resources:
SA Survivor Resource Document - This document contains Canadian, U.S, and Global sources to find guidance, information, and aid for survivors of sexual assault. Detailed descriptions of each resource within the document.
Court Documents:
The verdict:
R. v. McLeod, et al., 2025 ONSC 4319 (CanLII)
Motion for second mistrial:
R. v. McLeod, et al., 2025 ONSC 2946 (CanLII)
Motion on past recorded evidence:
R. v. McLeod, et al., 2025 ONSC 3225 (CanLII)
Motion on hearsay evidence:
R. v. McLeod, et al., 2025 ONSC 3226 (CanLII)
The Criminal Code on Sexual Assault and Consent:
Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46
Background
The NHL’s Response:
NHL suspends players acquitted in 2018 sexual assault trial until Dec. 1 - Sportsnet.ca
Background on the Event:
“Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal” from The Globe and Mail
Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal: Timeline of events - ESPN
This article includes the quote:
By mid-month, Renney and Smith were brought before members of Parliament during a Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage meeting to discuss Hockey Canada’s response to the incident in question. Both testified that 19 players were “encouraged” but not required to speak with the governing body’s third-party investigators. They also added that the identities of those eight players in the court filing remained unknown to them. St-Onge announced from there a freeze on Hockey Canada’s federal funding until the findings of a third-party investigation were completed. Several high-profile sponsors -- including Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons and Esso -- began distancing themselves from Hockey Canada. At the same time, multiple players from the 2018 world junior team began releasing statements denying they were involved in the alleged assault.
It was written by Elliotte Friedman for ESPN.
Coverage of the Trial and Hockey Canada:
Hockey Canada resists joining abuse registry as other sports publ
We Breed Lions Book by Rick Westhead
We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture
CBC Live Play By Play - Goes back day by day through the Trial:
Westhead: Hockey Canada will no longer use investment fund to settle alleged sexual assault claim
Trial
Rick Westhead coverage: https://muckrack.com/rwesthead
See all Hockey Canada articles from April 2 2025 to August 21 2025
New York Times The Athletic Coverage: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/katie-strang/
See all articles on the Hockey Canada trial from January 28 2024 to July 24 2025
Highlighted links:
In Hockey Canada trial, E.M. agrees she remained compliant as a ‘coping mechanism’ By Dan Robson
Judge discharges jury at London hockey trial By Rick Westhead
A timeline of the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial and key moments | CBC News
Hockey Canada trial: Judge explains players’ absence | London Free Press
Kyle Beach Case
Quenneville, Bowman reinstated by NHL two years after Kyle Beach scandal – NBC Chicago
New Oilers GM Stan Bowman: ‘My response was inadequate back in 2010’ - Sportsnet.ca
Additional Sources
Emily Owens, Consent in the Presence of Force (University of North Carolina Press: 2023)
Jane’s Quoted Article Sources
One:
Even before the verdict came, hockey teased the final message the scandal
would deliver. In early May, as the trial entered its fourth week, Joel Quenneville was
hired as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, after a four-year exile from the
league for his part in covering up the sexual abuse of one of his former
players by a member of his coaching staff with the Chicago Blackhawks.
A few days later, two-time Stanley Cup champion and Olympic gold
medalist Adam Foote was named head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. At
the news conference introducing Foote, he declined to discuss what was
happening in the London courthouse where his son sat charged with sexual
assault.
Carroccia’s verdict was not needed for the discourse to turn to the pros and
cons of signing one of the Hockey Canada 5, presuming the NHL reinstates
them. Those musings swirled mostly on social media until former goalie
and current NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes mused on TSN’s “Free
Agency Frenzy” special whether Carter Hart might be a fit in goal for the
Edmonton Oilers. Popular blogs and podcasts soon followed with similar
speculation. Carroccia’s complete exoneration of the players clears the
path for teams to add them. It will only be a matter of time.
In the final accounting, the most tangible change resulting from the
scandal is that Hockey Canada no longer has a slush fund to quietly pay off victims. Yes, some sponsors left, but several — like Tim Hortons, Telus, and Bauer — have already returned. Others, undoubtedly, will follow. There will be Hockey Canada galas in the years ahead to fete young heroes, just with no open bar, per new alcohol policies.
As for the message sent…
The players and the sport were the victims. And now the game is free to
move on.”
This comes from Dan Robson and Katie Strang from The New York Times Titled The Hockey Canada Trial Could have been a Reckoning. It Was Something Else
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6429400/2025/07/24/hockey-canada-trial-players-not-guilty/
Two:
“Civilians wouldn’t understand it,” a former player told the author when describing hockey’s locker room culture. “When we look around the room, we see 20 clones of ourselves and we all know we are better than everyone else. This is our culture. We breed lions, and how do you tell a lion to stop being a lion?”
And -
Jeremy Knight, a spokesperson for Hockey Canada, has noted the ITP does not have an investigatory or adjudicative role, but rather oversees the complaints process in a “confidential, neutral and procedurally fair manner,” using industry best practices.
But, is the absence of a public registry of ITP sanctions really an industry best practice? The Ontario Hockey Federation now produces an annual chart of maltreatment complaints submitted to the ITP involving its member organizations, but lists only statistics.
In contrast, the OHF’s summary of tampering allegations (recruiting players and announcing coaches prior to evaluations) lists descriptions of violations, sanctions, and names the associations involved. The federation notes it takes tampering allegations seriously and asks people to “imagine being partway through a season while already knowing you will not be part of your team next year. How would that affect your motivation, confidence, and sense of belonging? How would it impact your development on and off the ice?”
Both comes from a blog from Gluckstein Lawyers titled “Sports journalist Rick Westhead’s latest book, We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture is hot off the press, but he may need to begin work on another chapter.”
Consent is a piece of vocab the boys have seemingly been taught but don’t fully understand. “Ok ya fuck we are fine the boys who did things got consent so just tell them that and it’s fine,” Dubé texted a group chat with ten other players who had been there that night when they got word that Hockey Canada was looking into what had transpired in room 209. Consent is always a noun, never a verb. Later, Howden wrote, “If anything we should put allegations on her fuck.” Then, a moment of sobriety: “Yeah what should I say if they asked why I took the videos tho,” McLeod finally asked.”
And -
It doesn’t help that McLeod’s parents sit front row at the trial every day. Richard and Judi McLeod—who have been profiled as the ur-hockey parents (their eldest son plays professionally in Europe, and their youngest, Ryan, for the Buffalo Sabres)—have seemingly not made the mental switch from bleacher to court bench. Judi speaks over the proceedings as though the lawyers are talking directly to her. She brushes off her son’s suit before he enters the courtroom and hands him his notebook like it’s his lunch box before he prepares to take his seat.
It’s their demeanours that are boyish too. They were identified as potential cash cows at a young age, their high school education and socialization truncated by out-of-town tournaments and practice schedules. In court, McLeod hunches over his notebook like he’s passing time in detention; during recesses, he can’t stop flipping his water bottle to see if he can catch it. Foote sulks behind his lawyers, walking into the courthouse like he is being dragged by his mother through the mall; Dubé is surprisingly jocular for someone who is on trial; on breaks, I see him laughing with his girlfriend, who shows up most days and sits with the McLeods.
This comes from a Walrus article titled: What was left Unsaid in the Hockey Canada Trial written by Ariella Garmaise
https://thewalrus.ca/what-was-left-unsaid-in-the-hockey-canada-trial/
Full Team:
Jane Aster Roe - Executive Producer, Host
Anuja Jaiswal - Host
Rachel Arundel - Executive Producer
Katie Jensen - Executive Producer, Editor, Sound Designer
Dawson Fleming - Production Assistant
Cheryl Grossman - Legal
Dalton Higgons - Publicity
