In the wake of the Hockey Canada scandal, some advocates are calling for the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to be banned or restricted in settlement agreements in cases involving abuse.
University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane is one of the founders of the "" campaign to end the use of NDAs in abuse cases. She says these agreements have often been used by organizations and companies under the guise of protecting the privacy of the victim.
"(Victims) are told that in order for their name to be kept secret and their identity to be protected, they also have to protect the identity of the other side -- the perpetrator -- and not disclose what it was that happened to them," Macfarlane told CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.
But instead of protecting victims, Macfarlane says these agreements pressure victims into silence while protecting organizations and even perpetrators.
"(NDAs) are held over the head of the claimant who's received a settlement. And they are told that if they were ever to speak about their case 鈥 they will be in breach of that agreement and could lose their compensation," she said.
Last month, it was revealed that Hockey Canada had paid out $7.6 million since 1989 in several sexual assault-related settlements, and some of the claimants involved in the settlements were bound by non-disclosure agreements.
On July 27, Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith told a parliamentary committee the organization would allow any claimant who had signed an NDA to speak out about their experiences.
"If they wish to eliminate those, unless there is a legal reason not to that I'm not aware of, I'm not sure why we wouldn't," Smith told MPs.
Back in May, P.E.I. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to restrict the use of NDAs in cases of discrimination and harassment, including sexual misconduct. Under the legislation, an NDA is only legal in these cases if the victim requests one and if the agreement will not lead to the harming of a third party.
Macfarlane calls the conditions in P.E.I.'s legislation "fairly common sense," particularly the provisions in the bill that say the NDA must not harm a third party.
"There's an expression that has been developed in the last few years: 'pass the trash.' That refers to the idea that somebody who has already behaved in a way that might be dangerous 鈥 could move with impunity to another workplace that knows nothing about their background," she said.
"We argue that that always harms third parties because people who behave in this way tend to reoffend over and over again."
Similar bills have also been put before the legislatures in Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Canada's Minister of Sport, Pascale St-Onge, has criticized the use of NDAs, and told the Canadian Press in June that NDAs contradict the "very principle of safe sports."
Macfarlane says the public outcry over the Hockey Canada scandal has led to a new "momentum" in the campaign to ban or restrict the use of NDAs. She said the "Can't Buy My Silence" campaign has been working with legislators across Canada on NDA bills.
"It's really a matter of trying to educate the lawmakers who are looking at this issue and also the public as we go along," she said.
With files from The Canadian Press.
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