Asher Hill is a former Canadian National Team Member in Figure Skating. He is the Junior Canadian Champion in Ice Dance and has competed in world championships and international events for Canada.

Here is Asher’s story:

Hi my name is Asher Hill. While working at Skate Canada Brampton Chingcousy (SCBC) I experienced and witnessed acts of racism, bullying, homophobia, misogyny, and abuse by a co-worker.

In June 2019, I filed an official complaint against this co-worker with Skate Canada and my former employer (SCBC). I had asked Skate Canada to do their own tandem investigation on the case alongside the third-party investigation. I did not trust the process of the third-party nor the board of directors at SCBC who hired them, due to their favorability of the coach my complaint was made about. To me it seemed like an obvious conflict of interest, but Skate Canada denied my requests and decided to base their decision solely on this report.

The report found all my allegations unsubstantiated, untrue, and some of them were not ever investigated because the club claimed they had "investigated" the claim themselves.

Skate Canada agreed with the findings, abdicated its duty and found me in contempt of their harassment policies. They also put a letter of reprimand on my file. I appealed their decision and brought forward new evidence from parents, skaters, and coaches. No actions were taken to review this evidence because I did not bring these allegations forward during the third-party investigation.

It was very hard for me to come forward with my allegations because I was scared. I was scared of not being believed, of backlash, of losing influence as a coach and of being seen as just another angry black man. All of my fears came true. Not only was I not believed, I was now the aggressor, the bully. This process destroyed the little trust I already had in a system and my sense of self.

On June 2nd Skate Canada released a statement where they said they “support a safe, open, and inclusive environment for everyone” And they “stand with the Black community.” It’s time to hold Skate Canada accountable for their words and walk the talk by taking steps in the right direction.

The Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance’s Demands:

1. We demand that Asher’s Case is reopened

2. We demand that Skate Canada hires their own third party investigators to do the investigation.

3. We demand that Skate Canada removes Asher’s Letter of reprimand on his file.

We invite Skate Canada to be part of the change! They have the ability to be leaders in the skating community and we know they will do what is right!

Thank you for your help!