Emma Partridge Comments On Hockey Canada's Decision To Suspend Four Out Of Five Players

When all five members of Canada’s Junior Hockey team were acquitted of sexual assault charges in July 2025, it felt to many like the world of hockey was evading responsibility for a culture of violence.

But, on Wednesday, Hockey Canada announced that the suspensions for four of the five players accused of sexual assault would continue – and, in some cases, would continue for many years.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were charged in June 2018 in connection with allegations that they had been involved in a sexual assault against a woman, E.M., in a hotel room in London, Ontario.

Following a highly covered criminal trial, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia acquitted the five players of all charges, concluding that the complainant’s evidence was not “credible” or “reliable.”

The decision prompted an outcry from many advocates who have been trying to change narratives and stereotypes about sexual assault survivors and the reliability of their evidence.

Wednesday’s decision that four of the five players breached Hockey Canada’s code of conduct may be a signal that Hockey Canada is listening to these calls and is, perhaps, taking seriously the allegations that hockey culture in Canada is imbued with misogyny and a culture of violence.

While Alex Formenton has been reinstated immediately, an independent appeal board ruled that the other four players charged in connection with the alleged assault would remain suspended from Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs. Cal Foote’s will remain suspended until November next year, while Dillon Dubé will remain suspended until November 2028 and Michael McLeod until November 2030.

The decision to suspend the four players will not change the criminal decision nor will it change the sense that many people have: that E.M. was let down by the criminal process in the way that many survivors of sexual violence are. Survivors often feel retraumatized and invalidated by criminal proceedings, which can compound the existing trauma of the sexual assault. Sexual assault remains a vastly underreported crime, and survivors often point to fears that they will not be believed as the reason for not reporting to police.

However, the appeal board’s decision could be a signal of a wider shift in the way Hockey Canada and the hockey community more broadly views their players conduct and the standards to which they hold players. We hope that the suspensions represent a turning point in how hockey teams, organizations, and the community hold players accused of sexual violence to account.

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