For some, it's #MeToo vs. #HimToo at the Hockey Canada sexual assault
trial
HOCKEY CANADA TRIALKaren Pauls
| CBC News | Posted: June 8, 2025 8:00 AM | Last Updated: 3
hours ago
There’s been polarization in opinions about what's playing out
in London, Ont., court
Image | #MeToo supporter world juniors hockey trial
Caption: A woman supporting the complainant in the sexual
assault trial for five former world junior hockey players
confronts a man backing the accused men on May 16, outside the
London, Ont., courthouse. (David Lao/CBC News)
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WARNING: This article contains graphic details, references
sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced
sexual violence or know someone impacted by it.
Outside the London, Ont., courthouse where five former world
junior hockey players are on trial on sexual assault charges,
supporters of the complainant — carrying signs reading, "I
believe you E.M." and "We Believe Survivors" — have been
confronted by #HimToo movement backers with signs of their own:
"5 careers ruined" and "E.M. cheated."
The polarization echoes what's happening on social media and in
discussions across Canada as this high-profile trial plays out,
with closing arguments starting Monday. Michael McLeod, Carter
Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote have all
pleaded not guilty; the complainant is referred to as E.M. as
her identity is protected under a standard publication ban.
* A timeline of the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial and
key moments
On May 16, in a heated conversation with an unidentified female
E.M. supporter outside the courthouse, a man could be heard
speaking about testimony and evidence that have come up in the
trial, but are being seen from different perspectives and
interpretations.
"Inviting guys for a three-way with a woman might not be the
right thing. It might not be something you want your sister to
partake in," said the man, giving his take on a text message
entered as evidence. "However, it is not illegal when a girl is
consenting to this. It is not criminal when a girl consented to
this. Michael McLeod has had his career ruined. Hopefully,
[McLeod's lawyer] David Humphrey can go and exploit what this
girl's lies are."
(McLeod has pleaded not guilty to a second charge, of being a
party to the offence for allegedly inviting players to his
hotel room to engage in sex.)
* 'Consent videos' a focus of ex-world junior hockey players'
trial — but does such evidence stand up in court?
The woman outside the courthouse challenged the man on his
notion of consent in a situation where one woman is naked in a
room with up to 10 hockey players.
"She went to a room with one man," the woman said of E.M.
"And she stripped naked and masturbated in front of the men,"
the man replied.
"And then the man made a phone call and invited others to
join," the woman countered.
That discussion continued for nearly 20 minutes, while E.M.
supporters chanted their support and shouted "shame" at the
defendants as they walked into the courthouse.
Image | Hockey players composite
Caption: Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart
and Michael McLeod, left to right, are the former hockey
teammates on trial. (Nicole Osborne/CP, Nicole Osborne/CP,
Nicole Osborne/CP, Brett Gundlock/Reuters, Nicole Osborne/CP)
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The Crown has emphasized the issue of consent is central to
this case, arguing it involves whether the complainant
"voluntarily" agreed to each and every sexual act while it took
place.
As part of her marathon testimony in the trial that began in
late April, E.M. testified she only had consensual sex with one
of the players: McLeod. She said that at other times, she was
degraded, humiliated, spit on and slapped while being pressured
into performing sexual acts she did not agree to on players in
Delta hotel room 209 after a Hockey Canada gala in London in
June 2018.
* What E.M. told the jury over 9 days of testimony in the
Hockey Canada sexual assault trial
Some of the witnesses, including Hart, have testified E.M. was
an active participant in what they say were consensual sex
acts, wanting "a wild night," asking the players to engage with
her and taunting them when they didn't.
* See all of CBC's coverage of the trial
Refuting rape myths
Advocates of #MeToo who have been following the case closely
say it's hard to counter rape myths online or outside the
courthouse.
"We see people online commenting these things, saying these
hateful things, talking about consent ... talking about women
in this very kind of demeaning and harmful way. Particularly,
you know, very kind of slut-shamey [sic] comments, just doing
this for a cheque, things like that," said Landon Kenney, a
male allyship educator at the Sexual Assault Centre of Waterloo
in Ontario who has been at the London courthouse to support
E.M.
WATCH | WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: People's differing takes on
the hockey trial:
Media Video | Protesters clash outside court
Caption: E.M. supporters and #HimToo counter-protesters had a
heated debate about the sexual assault case of the five former
World Junior hockey players outside the London, Ont.,
courthouse on May 16
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A large part of Kenney's work is conducting education sessions
in schools, and with sports teams and community organizations
on consent, healthy masculinity and relationships, how to be an
active bystander and how to challenge rape culture.
Kenney believes change will come through educating young
people. In the meantime, he worries the #HimToo movement is
using this trial to ramp up a "culture war."
"The young men in this trial have become figureheads for a
movement that they probably want nothing to do with," he said.
"They have fallen on the side of a culture war even if they
didn't mean to or wish to, where there are groups of people out
there who have a vested interest in trying to ensure that
conversations like this happen, that the messaging like this
gets out online where, they say, coming forward is ruining
these people's lives, [the complainant is] just doing it for
attention — a lot of the kind of classic victim-blamey [sic]
rhetoric."
Image | Landon Kenney
Caption: Landon Kenney, second from left, a male allyship
educator at the Sexual Assault Centre of Waterloo, Ont., was
among people outside the London courthouse on May 28 who showed
up in support of E.M. (Karen Pauls/CBC News)
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One of the observers in the London court every day is a man who
identifies as the co-founder and director of False Allegations
Canada, an organization dedicated to "aiding individuals facing
the complexities of false allegations, providing a lifeline for
those in need." He agreed to an interview request with CBC
News, but only on the condition of anonymity. CBC denied that
request.
Kenney dismissed the argument that complainants like E.M. are
making false allegations, saying most sexual assault
allegations in Canada are not reported to police.
According to a Statistics Canada report in November 2024, for
instance, only six per cent of sexual assaults are reported to
police and only one in 19 led to an accused person being
sentenced to custody. They are less likely to result in charges
and convictions compared to physical assaults.
Kenney said the driver for the #HimToo movement is often the
concern about false accusations, which he also says is very
rare.
"The statistics show [it's] very, very unlikely. People are far
more likely to get away scot-free with wrong things that they
have done than they are to be wrongfully accused of things they
have not."
'Crown didn't have a lot of evidence'
Opinions about false accusations and "buyers' remorse" —
denying later that consent was given — are rampant on social
media.
It's also a question mark for some people who have been closely
watching the London trial, forming their beliefs based on the
witnesses' testimony and evidence presented.
Steven Janowicz is a hockey player adviser at Elwood Sports
Management near Detroit, Mich. He also coached boys' high
school hockey for many years. Janowicz contacted CBC News,
asking why the London case is not getting more attention in
U.S. media.
"If it would have been some NBA players or NFL players, it'd be
front page every day," he said in a followup interview.
Janowicz said he has raised the case with friends and
colleagues, and most of them think, as he does, that "it was
just a bad situation that they [the players] walked into.… I
think everyone was hoping they were not the instigators."
During the proceedings, court heard McLeod sent out a text
message to some of his then teammates, inviting them to his
room for a "3 way" and oral sex. Janowicz said he has been more
convinced by testimony that E.M. was the instigator.
"It has been tough for the players to relive that again, that
whole experience, because I think in hindsight, again they're
probably wishing that they never went to that room," he said.
Janowicz wonders why charges were laid and how this ever got to
trial because "it just seemed like the Crown didn't have a lot
of evidence."
Court heard that an original investigation conducted by the
London Police Service (LPS) in 2018 was closed early into 2019
after the detective in charge, Stephen Newton, said he couldn't
find grounds for charges.
Under cross-examination recently, though, the now-retired
sergeant admitted he had not thoroughly followed up on some
investigative leads — for example, while he knew about McLeod's
text invitation, he didn't try to get it, and he did not ask
Dubé about the allegations he slapped E.M.'s bare buttocks.
After a settlement with E.M. by Hockey Canada became public in
2022, police started a second investigation that ultimately led
to the charges.
Image | Meaghan Cunningham Stephen Newton Hockey Canada trial
Caption: Assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham questions
retired London police officer Stephen Newton, whose initial
investigation into the sexual assault allegations ended with no
charges. (Alexandra Newbould/CBC)
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When it comes to the issue of consent, Janowicz said, he was
taught that when a woman says no, she means no — and that
should be respected.
As he read about E.M.'s testimony and lengthy
cross-examination, "I've never heard her saying no. So I have a
quandary with that.… I didn't hear E.M. say that, the Crown
never presented that.
"It seems like based on what everybody has presented, the Crown
and the attorneys for the players, she was more willing for
some type of, like, a raunchy sex movie. I mean, I'll just put
it out there — it is what it is," Janowicz said.
* Making sense of some of the evidence in the Hockey Canada
sexual assault trial
In her opening statement, assistant Crown attorney Heather
Donkers addressed that question specifically, saying, "You will
not hear from E.M. that she said 'no' to the specific sexual
acts that constitute a sexual assault, nor that she was
physically resisting at those times. But we anticipate you will
hear E.M. testify that when she was in this hotel room, at age
20, intoxicated, and a group of large men that she did not know
were speaking to each other as if she were not there, and then
they started telling her to do certain things — she did not
feel that she had a choice in the matter."
Donkers and others have pointed out that consenting to one kind
of sexual activity does not automatically mean consenting to
another; it's a continuous process and the absence of "no" does
not mean "yes."
Believing stereotypes
Still, a new study conducted in Quebec suggests stereotypes
about sexual assault are common, particularly when it comes to
who is believed, who is blamed and what counts as consent —
despite years of social awareness programs, including the
#MeToo movement.
"What we found is that a significant portion of the population
still holds beliefs that still believe rape myths, which are
erroneous beliefs about victims, perpetrators and sexual
assaults," said Dominique Trottier, a psychology professor at
Université du Québec en Outaouais and one of the study's
collaborators.
"Most of the population did not fully reject statements such as
the victim is lying about what she endured or that she feels
bad afterwards after the fact so she is lying about the fact
that she consented," Trottier said in an interview.
The study indicates 77 per cent of men and 53 per cent of women
did not fully reject the idea that some people make false
sexual assault accusations out of revenge.
A quarter of all respondents — 27 per cent of men and 20 per
cent of women — also expressed ambiguity about the issue of
consent, particularly in scenarios involving alcohol,
non-verbal communication, coercion and social power dynamics,
Trottier said.
People aged 15 to 25 and those 66 and older were more likely to
express beliefs that undermine victims, the research found.
Petition backing E.M.
When Karen Barnes, Kelly Proudfoot and Tosh Southwick start
chatting online, the topic can range from travel plans, to
politics, to top stories in the news.
Former colleagues at Yukon University, they've had a lot of
discussions lately about the Hockey Canada sexual assault
trial, particularly around E.M.'s testimony and
cross-examination by the five defence lawyers.
* Some rape crisis centres report spike in calls since start
of Hockey Canada sexual assault trial
"The thing that really sort of struck home for all of us was
that this woman was having to do this alone," Barnes said from
her home in Chemainus, B.C.
"I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone," Proudfoot added
from Europe, where the Whitehorse resident is currently
travelling.
Image | Kelly Proudfoot, Tosh Southwick, Karen Barnes
Caption: Kelly Proudfoot, top left, Tosh Southwick, middle and
also shown bottom left, and Karen Barnes, bottom right, are
friends and former co-workers who penned an open letter to
E.M., the complainant in the Hockey Canada sexual assault
trial. (Courtesy Kelly Proudfoot, Karen Barnes)
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The friends wrote an open letter they tried to get published in
southern Ontario newspapers. They also attempted to get it
directly to E.M. through the courts. When none of that worked,
they decided to put it online in the form of a petition.
"We don't know your name, but we know your courage," it starts.
"As women watching from across the country, we are heartbroken,
enraged, and in awe of your strength. You are walking through
fire in that courtroom in London, Ont. — reliving the horror,
subjected to endless questioning, standing alone against a
system and a culture that have failed you again and again.
"We believe you."
The petition has been up since May 12 and has thousands of
signatures.
Proudfoot said she has been touched by many of the comments,
but also disheartened so few people have signed the petition
compared to the approximately 40,000 people who have read it.
"For me, it's the silence," she said, adding people seem afraid
to support E.M. publicly.
* What the jury didn't hear — and other things we can now
report — in world junior hockey sex assault trial
Coming from the hockey community of Whitby, Ont., and having
worked for the NHL's Calgary Flames early in her career,
Proudfoot said some people have told her not to get involved —
that E.M., who launched a civil lawsuit, received a settlement
from Hockey Canada and it should be enough.
Proudfoot rejects that, saying her message to them is simple:
"I love hockey, and I believe E.M., and I think there's lots
more to that story. But right now, what I want is [for E.M.] to
know that she has support and feel like she can go on in her
life, that there are people that believe in her."
Supporters of E.M. plan to be back at court on Monday as
closing arguments begin. They're also planning events for the
day Justice Maria Carroccia hands down her decisions — which
could still be weeks away.
Defence lawyers have already complained to the court that the
protesters are intimidating the players, and "forcefully and
loudly" advocating for results when they chant: "What do we
want? Justice. When do we want it? Now."
Hart's lawyer, Megan Savard, described it as "name-calling,
bullying, attacking."
__________________________________________________________
If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that
of others around you, please call 911. For support in your
area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the
Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
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