The Vernon Report

Michael Nicholson's report, all one hundred and some pages, is now available. The pdf file of the report and a separate one with appendices can be downloaded from here. It is not a comfortable read!

Having speculated in this month's Scottish Curler on what it might contain I am now sitting down to read it in its entirety to see if any of my speculation was correct! Discussion is best directed to the Scottish Curling Forum.

The Royal Club Chairman Bob Tait has issued a statement on behalf of the Board (it follows below), as have Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson (also printed below). Derek Brown has apparently made a statement too, but for some reason this cannot be printed (see Tait below)!

Statement from Bob Tait:

"As advised on 6 February the Report by the Independent Investigator has been received and, as provided for in the remit for the investigation agreed by all of the parties, is available in full here. The report is long but to get a balanced view it needs to be read in its entirety. The Board apologise if some of the colourful language offends.

The Board is grateful to all 13 witnesses for their co-operation with the Investigation. The Report has been considered by the Board, which accepts it has responsibility to members to address any shortcomings.

First, the RCCC was not prepared as fully as it should have been to handle and respond to this unforeseeable set of circumstances. For this, as well as any consequent stress and strain caused to all parties, the Board apologise. The Board also apologise for the length of time it has taken to finalise this. The actions outlined below are intended to guard against any similar future incident although ultimately this depends on the conduct of players, coaches and support staff selected to represent our country.

The Board believes that events in Vernon provide further evidence that the National Coach should be an employee of the RCCC. Other sports have already made this change. We have advised sportscotland of this unanimous view and will be pursuing it as part of the post Olympic review in 2010. When the change is made, responsibilities, training and development and all conditions of service would be determined by the RCCC (in consultation with its partners) and the National Coach post-holder would be accountable to the CEO and through that post-holder to the Board.

Secondly the President now writes to every player and coach representing Scotland abroad wishing them well in the competition and reminding them about the standards expected of those who have the honour to represent our country. This will continue.

Thirdly the Board is also establishing groups to review Discipline and Performance.

The remit of the Discipline Group is to review the Ethics Manual and in particular the Disciplinary and Appeals Codes benchmarking against other sports. Clear short timescales for making and dealing with complaints must be set out; assess the desirability of involving outside professionals eg Sports Disputes in the processes; review the legal content of the players contract; and conduct some scenario testing to ensure the robustness of new procedures.

The membership of the group is Michael Wood (Independent Lawyer - Chairman), Russell Keillor, Edith Loudon, Lockhart Steele and Colin Grahamslaw (Secretary).

The remit of the Performance Group is:
review the process for deciding how the teams to represent Scotland are selected. (and any potential impact on the Scottish Championships a change could have); clarify the role and responsibility of the team coach / national coach and the interaction between the two, including responsibility for decision making and recording; consider the relationship between the national coach and the RCCC and the future performance structure; consider the principles to be included in the player’s contract; and define the role of the RCCC representative at Championships.

The membership of the group is Bob Tait (Chair), Robin Copland, Margaret Richardson, Irene Hird, Chris Robison (Policy Director of the SSA) and Colin Grahamslaw (Secretary).

The Board will prepare a Code of Conduct taking account of both Groups’ recommendations and this will be provided to each player, coach and support staff representing our country and will be available to members.

Finally since the report was received there have been exchanges and meetings with the parties and their representatives to seek a conclusion with minimal further delay, stress and cost and in the best interests of curling. Derek Brown, the National Coach, provided a written statement intended for use here unfortunately it cannot be made available here as the conditions attached to it cannot at present be met.

Consideration of complaints by Mr Brown against Mrs Munro and Mrs Wilson and by Mrs Munro against Mr Brown, and by a Royal Club member against Mrs Wilson were all suspended to await the report of the Independent Investigator. As provided in the agreed remit which set up the investigation the Board is now providing the Conduct Panel (Sheriff Richard Scott, Chair, Mrs Pam Mackay and Mr Ewan Malcolm) and the Responsible Officer (the Vice President of the Royal Club, Bill Marshall) with copies of the Report, appendices and witness statements, and have asked them to resume consideration of these complaints. The Board will review the position once these complaints have been determined. The Board remains willing to discuss how matters can be settled without recourse to further hearings, costs, stress and delay.

The Board is conscious that members share their concerns about costs and advise that the present estimated costs of £15,000 to the RCCC should be contained within this year without recourse to any subscriptions increases. As intimated elsewhere the Board has set unchanged subscriptions for 2009-10.

I will advise members of progress. Any comments or questions should be addressed to me via Cairnie House or at chairman@royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org

Statement from Gail and Lyndsay:

"Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson welcome the long awaited publication of the Independent Investigator's report and although they feel disappointed that Michael Nicholson does not reach more definite conclusions, they feel that the report is sufficient to vindicate them both of the complaints made against them, namely that they refused to play. Whilst they are disappointed that the publication of the report has not led to a resolution of matters, they welcome the opportunity to resume the complaints with the Conduct Panel which supported their request to have the matter investigated, a promise by the RCCC to its members prior to the team's return from Vernon."

More from me later.

The Vernon Report

Michael Nicholson has completed his report and it was delivered to the main parties involved this week. It apparently runs to more than a hundred pages.

It was discussed at the Royal Club's Board meeting today. Chairman Bob Tait has been in touch to explain that the Board wishes to discuss issues raised in the report with the Royal Club partners, principally I understand, sportscotland. As soon as this/these meetings have taken place he assures me that the report will be published in full, as promised, on the Royal Club website. He would not be drawn on a timescale.

We have to continue to be patient! But, hey, after nearly a year, what's a few days more.

Vernon: the next chapter

The Royal Club Board Minutes for December have now been published (they can be downloaded here). Significantly, they contain the following statement about the Vernon enquiry:

"Board members expressed frustration that despite constant pressure from the Chairman on the Independent Investigator slow progress is being made. The lack of progress is down to some witness statements having not been signed off. It was agreed that Michael Nicholson should be instructed to finish the report without the missing witness statements."

Word on the rink is that all the material that Nicholson needs is now in his hands, and that the Board will meet soon to discuss the report when it is received. Let's hope so.

It was back in October 27 of last year that the Royal Club issued its last statement about the Vernon investigation. Bob Tait indicated then that the remit for Michael Nicholson, the independent investigator, had been agreed and signed by all the parties, and that work on completing the independent investigation was ongoing.

In summary, the remit was, "To conduct an investigation into the events that resulted in the Scottish team at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championships in Vernon in March 2008 playing 2 games with 3 players, and the events in Vernon following each of these games. To provide the Chairman of the Board of the RCCC a written report on the facts found by the Investigator and to make recommendations on actions, if any, to be taken. The Investigator will not recommend specific disciplinary sanctions. The report and any appendices will be sent to Bob Tait, Chairman of the Board of the RCCC by a date to be agreed with the Investigator. The report and any appendices will also be circulated by the Investigator to Alan Cowan of Simpson Marwick for Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson; and Derek Brown. The report and any appendices will also be placed on the RCCC web-site and circulated to all Scottish team players at the event, the Team Coach, Support staff and the RCCC representative at the event no earlier than 48 hours after it was sent to the parties."

The full text of the October 27 announcement is on the RCCC website here.

I am hopeful that we will all soon find out what really happened in Vernon. Bob Tait has indicated that the report will be placed in the public domain, on the Royal Club website. For only by being open and honest can our sport's governing body minimise the public relations disaster that it has already suffered from the delay in getting to this stage.

I believe that Chairman Bob Tait is as frustrated as anyone over how long it has taken to get to this stage. Certainly the statement in December's Board Minutes would seem to indicate this. It has not been a good start to his leadership term and as long as it continues the less opportunity there is for him to begin to repair the Royal Club's reputation.

The question for me is what will happen now? Will the conclusions in the Nicholson report lead to resignations, or will there be a resumption of the complaints procedures which are currently on hold? I fervently hope that there will be no attempts at a cover up. There is no doubt in my mind, from talking to curlers in all walks of the game, that many would like the Vernon issue over with and that we just move on. They are fed up with it. But that's the danger, that the whole matter just gets quietly forgotten about.

I have promised that the Scottish Curler will NOT let the matter be forgotten, although I am as disturbed by the whole issue as any lover of our sport.

Let's not forget the seriousness of what happened. Scotland was made to look the laughing stock of the curling world in Vernon last year. Why did it happen, and what procedures can be put in place that this never happens again? Is it wrong to expect answers to these two questions? And of course we are now very close to finding out who will be representing Scotland at the World Championships this year. Could the same thing happen again?

More on VERNON

There's a new statement from RCCC Board Chairman Bob Tait about the Vernon enquiry on the Royal Club website this morning (here). It reads:

"Further to my statement of 8 September the remit for the independent investigation has been revised to set out the use to be made of witness statements and documentation. The remit as revised has been signed by the parties and is reproduced below. Work on completing the independent investigation is ongoing and I will report further as soon as possible."

The lawyer's new remit is published in full.

Vernon delay

I posted on Friday (here) that I hoped that I would see some resolution soon of the issues arising from the Ford World Women's Championship in Vernon.

The Chairman of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, Bob Tait, has just released (see here) the following on the governing body's website: "Further to my statement of 7 August I regret to advise that the report by the Independent Investigator has not been completed by the due date of 5 September. The Investigator has asked for more time as witness interviews have been affected by pre-arranged holidays and other commitments, not wholly anticipated when the timescale was set. A further update will be provided as soon as possible."

The saga continues.

Vernon investigation report soon

Friday, September 5 is today's date. Significant? Remember that laywer Michael Nicholson of Harper Macleod was charged with conducting an independent investigation into the events that resulted in the Scottish team at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championships at Vernon in March 2008 playing two games with three players, and the events in Vernon following each of these games. By the end of today Nicholson is due to have sent a copy of his report to Bob Tait, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's Chairman, see here.

So, when might we expect to know the outcome of Nicholson's investigation? The Royal Club's statement on August 7 said, "The report will also be circulated by the Investigator to all Scottish team players at the event, the National Coach, the Team Coach, Support staff and the RCCC representative at the event. The report will also be placed on the RCCC website no earlier than 48 hours after it was sent to the parties."

I am looking forward to reading this report, whenever it appears, with some dread. Can we hope that it will provide a satisfactory conclusion to the Vernon issues? Or will it just be another chapter in this dark saga of Scottish curling?

Vernon investigation underway

New Royal Caledonian Curling Club Chairman Bob Tait has today issued a statement (which can be downloaded here) which indicates his commitment to solving the issues which have hung over Scottish curling since March. At the Ford World Women's Curling Championship in Vernon, the Scottish team played the last two round robin games with just three players, in the face of media reports that a member of the squad had refused to play for the team. An independent investigation was promised in a statement posted on the RCCC website on March 29 (here).

This independent investigation has not taken place. In the months since Vernon, little or no information about what has been happening has emerged from Cairnie House, the excuse being that formal complaints had been made, and that disciplinary procedures were in train. A Conduct Panel was convened, but its recommendations have not been made public.

There appeared to be a complete disregard for members' concerns that the matter would be investigated, and lessons learned. The lack of information, the failure to keep the membership informed, and the passage of time with no apparent action, led me to post my own frustrations here.

One member, Michael Barron from Inverurie, has gone so far as to file a formal complaint against Lyndsay Wilson, as recently as last month, presumably in the light of the RCCC's apparent failure to act.

But things have changed with the appointment of Bob Tait as the new Board Chairman. He has been able to reach agreement with the main parties involved to allow an investigation to go ahead. Vice President Bill Marshall is now the Responsible Officer under the Ethics Manual and is responsible for Barron's complaint and will advise Mr Barron that he will await the report from the investigation before further considering that complaint.

Michael Nicholson of Harper Macleod, Solicitors, in Glasgow, has been appointed to carry out the investigation. His report is to be complete by September 5, in time for the RCCC Board meeting on September 12. An update to members is promised thereafter.

Why has this happened now? When the Conduct Panel was convened Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson made the suggestion that they would suspend their complaints against Derek Brown, the National Coach, if an investigation into all aspects of what occurred in Vernon was undertaken. The Royal Club Board has decided that this is the way to proceed!

So, what's the remit of the investigation? It says:

"Remit
To conduct an investigation into the events that resulted in the Scottish team at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championships at Vernon in March 2008 playing 2 games with 3 players, and the events in Vernon following each of these games.

To provide to the Chairman of the Board of the RCCC a written report on the facts found by the Investigator and to make recommendations on actions, if any, to be taken. The Investigator will not recommend specific disciplinary sanctions. The report will be sent to the Chairman of the Board of the RCCC by 5th September. The report will also be circulated by the Investigator to all Scottish team players at the event, the National Coach, the Team Coach, Support staff and the RCCC representative at the event. The report will also be placed on the RCCC website no earlier than 48 hours after it was sent to the parties.

Means
The RCCC shall appoint the Investigator who shall be a lawyer. The RCCC shall meet the Investigator’s costs.

The Investigator will be provided with a brief summary about the event prepared by RCCC (e.g. how the team qualified to represent their country, coaches etc), copies of the complaints made by Mr Brown and Mrs Munro and a member of the RCCC, copies of the response to these complaints and any correspondence regarding the complaints and responses; copies of the contracts signed by the team, a list of contact addresses for the RCCC party, a copy of the RCCC Ethics manual and all rules and regulations of RCCC (including the Memorandum and Articles of Association and Bye Laws of RCCC), copies of comments about the events from third parties and as reported in the Press, copies of the statements on the RCCC web and, if available, a copy of Mr Brown’s Press interview.

The Investigator will invite statements from, and may invite to interview, all Scottish team players at the event, the National Coach, the Team Coach, Support staff and the RCCC representative. He/she may also invite statements from supporters and others he/she considers may assist his investigation.

Conditions
The parties agree that the disciplinary proceedings against Mrs Wilson, Mrs Munro and Mr Brown will be suspended during the investigation.

Any of the parties who choose to incur costs shall be responsible for these costs with no liability passing to the RCCC under any circumstances.

The parties accept that the Investigator’s report shall be admissible as evidence at any proceedings that may follow. The report is not binding on any individual or panel hearing these proceedings.

The parties agree that this note shall be placed on the RCCC web and shall be sent to the Chair of the Ladies Standing Committee, Area, Province and Club Secretaries and that otherwise there shall be no communication of any kind (written, oral, electronic) with the media or parties not party to this note before the Investigator’s Report is published."

It is good to see that Bob Tait has given his email address in his announcement today, so that members with concerns may write directly to him.

So, given the proviso of the last paragraph, I suspect there will be nothing more for me to write about until September, on this subject at least!

The photo of the Scotland team at Vernon is by Hugh Stewart. L-R: Lynn Cameron, Anne Laird, Karen Addison, Lyndsay Wilson and Gail Munro.

Vernon: July's Editorial

I rarely write editorial content in this blog. I much enjoy reporting on factual curling news in Scotland and around the world, most of that positive and enjoyable. Comment is best in the magazine. But this is July, and the Scottish Curler is in its close season! So please forgive this blog post. Call it, if you will, a 'summer editorial'.

You see, I am annoyed and frustrated about how the Royal Caledonian Curling Club Board has tackled the Vernon issues, and failed to keep members informed about what's going on. You remember the story. Scotland fielded three players for the last couple of games at the Ford Women's World Championship in Vernon.

Why did this happen? An initial explanation was posted on the Royal Club website, then promptly changed, then changed for a third time. Initially, Lyndsay Wilson was made to appear as the person solely responsible - an inference that is so obviously not the complete story. Unfortunately, she remains in the eyes of many as the guilty party. I thought in this country we had a presumption of innocence, and guilt had to be proved?

An independent enquiry was promised. Months have gone by. You can read my last 'Vernon update' on May 13 here. Official complaints were made. Vague comments have been issued, most recently at the Royal Caledonian Curling Club AGM on June 9 (here), that a 'conduct panel' had been convened and had submitted a report. But the 14,000 members of the Club have been left wondering if they are ever going to find out what went wrong, and if lessons have been learned so that a similar situation will never happen again.

Why am I writing this now? The new Board of Directors is due to meet for the first time on Wednesday. Bob Tait (who is the new chairman), Colin Grahamslaw (the CEO), Irene Hird, Jeanette Johnston, Anne Malcolm, Lockhart Steele, Matt Murdoch (the new RCCC President) and Willie Nicol (the most recently elected Director) will have lots of things to discuss. But I hope that the Vernon controversy, and its resolution, is top of the agenda.

I would like to see a statement issued following Wednesday's meeting that confirms that an independent enquiry is underway. Note my emphasis on independent. Not an internal enquiry, not a 'we've had a report' and we're moving on, not a whitewash. Why the promised independent enquiry has never taken place (apparently), I cannot understand. I firmly believe that the Royal Club has treated us (its members) like young children. I find this reprehensible. That has to stop now. The Royal Club Board of Directors has not handled the Vernon controversy very well. Let me change that. The Board has handled it very badly indeed by not being open about its actions, and especially in leaving the presumption of blame totally on Lyndsay's shoulders.

It's a new Board. A fresh start. Time for change in attitude? I do hope so.

I hope the Directors read this. If you know a Board member, email them and tell them what I've written. These are our elected representatives, don't forget that. If you know an Area Standing Committee, or Ladies' Standing Committee representative, tell them too! "Bob's written a summer 'editorial'. Do you agree with what he says?"

I simply want to know what's going on, and, I suspect, so do you.

Most of all I want to have pride in the curling teams that wear Scotland's colours - whether they win or lose. I want to have confidence in all the coaching and backup staff. And I want to respect our governing body, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. And, I suspect, so do you.

Contrasting views are always welcome. You can comment below, of course, but the Scottish Curling Forum is probably the better place.

Another Vernon update

I have not found it easy to make sense of what has been happening in the past two months. But an update is overdue. Here is my, probably inadequate, attempt at an explanation.

National coach Derek Brown, who was in overall charge of the Scottish squad at the Ford World Women's Curling Championship in Vernon, British Columbia, in March, will face a Royal Club 'Conduct Panel' next Monday. This results from the complaint lodged against him by Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson, who were initially blamed by Brown for the fiasco which saw Scotland field just three players for the last two round robin matches in Canada.

Brown had lodged complaints against Munro and Wilson, and the two women will also face a 'Conduct Panel'.

The investigation into the complaints has been led by Frank Gill, a lawyer with Anderson Strathern, who was asked to take this role as the 'responsible officer', as RCCC Vice-president Matt Murdoch had to declare a conflict of interest (see previous post here).

The procedures being followed are laid out in a document entitled: 'Ethics Manual:
RCCC's policies and procedures for an ethical sport'. There is a section therein which relates to 'Policy and procedure for dealing with the conduct of participants'.

There is no precedent. Nothing like this has happened in recent years.

Gill had to decide whether the complaints had merit. If so he had two choices - either to investigate further, or that 'disciplinary action against the participant is warranted', in which case he had to call a formal hearing or 'Conduct Panel'. He has apparently decided on the latter course of action.

Note the use of the words 'disciplinary action' here. I find this strange. It implies that Gill, acting as the RCCC's responsible officer, has already acted as judge and jury and that both parties are 'guilty' of something. However the role of the Conduct Panel is wide ranging to investigate the complaints. It would appear that everything is still at an investigation stage. Witnesses can be present or submit written evidence to the Conduct Panel.

Gill's last act has been to select the members of the Panel from a list of qualified individuals made up from curlers, Board members, Area Standing Committee and Ladies Standing Committee members. His choice to take things further are Sheriff Richard Scott (formerly Sheriff of Borders and Lothians at Edinburgh, and founder member of Abbotsford Curling Society), Ewan Malcolm (a lawyer, now with Consensus Mediation and a former Murrayfield coach) and Pam MacKay (director of curlingshoes.com, a well respected curling supply business).

That's Gill's job over, apparently.

When the Conduct Panel has finished its investigation it can apply wide disciplinary sanctions, ranging from a written reprimand to termination of RCCC membership, or indeed 'Any other sanction(s) deemed appropriate in the circumstances'.

The stakes then are high. Munro and Wilson's future participation in the sport. Brown's credibility to continue as National Coach.

Will we know anything immediately after the Conduct Panel first hearing next Monday, or even before the Royal Club AGM on June 14? This is not likely, as the procedures say, 'No publication of a decision or sanction shall take place until the time for appeal has expired or an appeal has been decided.' And the Ethics Manual has an appeals procedure, with timelines. But if it goes to appeals, any anouncement could be delayed considerably.

What concerns me is that nowhere in all this has there been the promised 'independent enquiry' into what went wrong in Vernon - why it happened, and what lessons can be learned so that such a thing never happens again. That's what curlers in Scotland want to know.

I asked RCCC Board Chairman Mike Ferguson where we are with this. He says, "After the proceedings are fully complete, the Board will be conducting a comprehensive review, seeking advice as required. I am sure you can appreciate timings cannot be confirmed at this stage, however both the recommendations and any subsequent alterations to our procedures will be published."