As five former Canadian world junior hockey players wait for a decision in their sexual assault, legal experts say the complainant’s video shown in the court said that it is fine that is fine that highlights the widespread misconception of the consent and sexual harassment law in Canada.
Two cellphone videos in which the woman says that she “is fine with this” and “all this consensus” was presented as evidence during testing of Michael McLeod, Carter Heart, Alex Forton, Dilon Dube and Colon Foot.
All five people have requested not to be guilty of sexual assault after an encounter in a London, Ontaras, hotel room in the morning of June 19, 2018. McLeod has not blamed for allegations of having a party for a crime of sexual harassment.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Karokia is expected to pronounce his verdict in the case on Thursday, which saw an agreement as a central issue.
The prosecutors have argued that the complainant voluntarily did not agree to the sexual acts that did, nor did the players take appropriate steps to confirm their consent. Crown has rejected the woman’s video as a “token lip service box checking” that night, arguing that she felt that she had no choice, but did not know to go with when she did not know that she started asking her to work inside the hotel room.
Meanwhile, the defense lawyers repeatedly challenged the complainant’s credibility and credibility as a witness, arguing that she was an active partner in sexual activity and alleged as she did not want to take responsibility for her choice that night.
Video statements such as a short clip shown in this test are not evidence of the necessary consent, said Professor Daffne Gilbert, Professor of Ottawa.
“Legally, they have very little relevance because consent should continue and contemporary with sexual activity and you have to give consent to everything that is happening to you,” Gilbert said, who researches sexual violence and misconduct in Canadian sports.
“There is no such thing as advance consent. And later there is nothing in the form of consent, either. So just because you say, ‘Yes, it was all consent’, it does not mean that it makes it.”
Lisa Duframont, a law professor at York University, said that such videos can also be seen as a hearing as they do not have statements made under the oath in court.
“If the complainant climbed the stand at the test and testified that he agreed at that time, it would be evidence that he agreed at the time,” Duffraimont said, whose research is focused on evidence issues in cases of sexual harassment.
But he said that the video can be used for other legal arguments, including those who were working at the time how a defendant or complainant was working at the details.
“It may be that if the video is taken closer to the time of the alleged sexual attack, the video shows something about the person’s drug or their emotional state, which may or may not occur at that time to inform his emotional status at that time,” said Duframont.
During the test, Crown argued that the videos shown in the court were not proof that the complainant voluntarily agreed what happened.
Prosecutor Meghan Cunningham said about the video, “Recording of that video is not getting consent for anything.
Only one accused, Hart, took a stand in his own defense, and the court listened or seen the interview by three of others – McLeod, Forton and Dube – to the police in 2018. There is no need to testify to the accused of crimes, nor is there a need to protect any evidence, as it is to prove crimebilat beyond a proper doubt.
In the 2018 interview with the police, he told a detective that he recorded one of the video because he could “just be worried about something like this.”
At the stand, Hart testified that the agreement video for professional athletes is not uncommon.
Professor University of Ottawa Law, Gilbert said that Canada has still worked to educate young people about consent, especially in sports. He is involved in efforts to teach youth about consent through school programming, but said that especially professional hockey is behind to implement policies to address the issue.
The consent should be “enthusiastic, positive, running, consistent” – yes, yes, Gilbert said.
“I think people don’t understand that law really needs. And so if you know, if you think about the way we should contact consent, I think it is easy to understand why those videos do not mean.”
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 22 July 2025.
Riana Lim, Canadian Press