Dens of Iniquity

During last year’s eight-week Hockey Canada criminal trial in London, Ontario, when five former junior players stood accused of group sexual assault against a woman known as E. M., the TSN investigative journalist Rick Westhead was turned upon by a large man outside a courthouse elevator. “This is all his fault,” he screamed as he pointed a finger in Westhead’s face. “You are ruining these boys’ lives.” The next day, the same man showed up wearing a T‑shirt that read, “Rick Westhead is a piece of shit.”

The man was eventually barred from court, and Westhead continued his coverage of the trial. His earlier account of E. M.’s 2022 civil suit and its settlement had brought the grotesque inciting events to light. That led to a parliamentary probe of Hockey Canada’s operation and a more thorough criminal investigation by London police, who, more than most forces, had a history of dismissing rape allegations as “unfounded.” The man by the elevator thought, perhaps...